A former Chick-fil-A worker says she once passed out at a drive thru because her boss wasn’t looking out for her.
TikTok user Jade (@jade.calico) recounts the ordeal in a video that has amassed more than 430,000 views as of Tuesday. The video is a close up of Jade’s face as she lip-syncs a sound from the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. “Beautiful things don’t ask for attention,” she mouths.
The video’s text overlay reads: “Thinking about the time my job wouldn’t let me come inside and it was so hot outside I passed out at the drive thru line taking someone’s order and had to be dragged inside by a coworker and the general manager asked why I passed out instead of apologizing for the working conditions.”
In the caption, Jade writes, “Im sure yall can guess what job this was.” In the comments, many users speculated that Jade was referring to Chick-Fil-A, which often assigns its workers to outside shifts working the drive thru. In response to several of the comments, Jade confirmed she was speaking about Chick-Fil-A. Oher users said they’ve been asked to do this at other chains.
One user wrote, “cfa would keep me outside for 3 hours in florida heat over the summer and we were supposed to get 10 minute inside breaks every hour but rarely actually did.”
Another user said they’ve similarly had a fainting spell due to working while ill. “my manager at Arby’s made me come in when I had a horrible case of bronchitis. I passed out in the drive thru and woke up to him dragging me to the back,” they wrote.
Other workers said they’ve struggled with heat while working even indoors. “Worked at Popeyes drive thru and boy I felt I was a mf chicken sandwich being cooked (back when dress code meant you were wearing 2 layers of clothes) WITH NO AC IN 97 degree WEATHER,” wrote another worker.
Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t directly regulate temperature in the workplace, its rules do mandate that employers provide a workplace free of “recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm.” That can potentially include extreme heat depending on the specific circumstances.
During a heat wave in 2013, a New York City McDonald’s employee fainted and others walked off the job after the restaurant’s air conditioning failed. NBC New York reported, “A woman who felt ill asked to leave, but she says her boss told her she had to stay because there was no backup to take her place. Some of the workers contacted Fast Food Forward, an organization that advocates for fast food workers.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Jade via TikTok direct message for comment. She wrote, “Hey! It was interesting for sure. I didn’t think so many people would share my story. It really goes to show how much companies abuse their employees and I wish there was more done about it.”
@jade.calico Im sure yall can guess what job this was
♬ sonido original – 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐈𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐚
The Daily Dot reached out to Chick-Fil-A via email for comment.
