It doesn't matter how big or small a restaurant is, one thing is of the utmost importance:
reputation.
Unfortunately, even the biggest chains can ruin their reputations with a few missteps,
and these chains did exactly that when they brought attention to themselves on a national
scale for some of the worst reasons ever.
They say all publicity is good publicity, but sometimes, that's just not true.
Wendy's chili finger hoax
In March 2005, a customer named Anna Aayala allegedly found a human finger in the bowl
of chili she ordered from a San Jose Wendy's restaurant.
When employees were ruled out as the source of the disgusting digit, Wendy's offered $50,000
for information.
Police, however, had their suspicions.
It turned out Aayala's husband bought the finger from a coworker, who had been involved
in an industrial accident.
The co-worker came forward, and the couple were found guilty of conspiracy to file a
false insurance claim and attempted grand theft with damages exceeding $2.5 million.
She was sentenced to nine years, but was released after four years for good behavior on the
stipulation she never enter a Wendy's again.
Wendy's claimed the incident led to millions in lost sales, and the pair were ordered to
pay $21.8 million in damages.
Wendy's agreed not to collect as long as the couple didn't try to profit from the story
in the future.
Talk about taking the high road.
Hepatitis at Chi-Chi's
In October 2003, health officials in Pennsylvania were alerted to an unusually widespread hepatitis
A outbreak, and tracked the source to a local Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant.
The restaurant voluntarily closed its doors, and even though over 9,000 inoculations were
given out, more than 650 people were confirmed to have been infected, including 13 Chi-Chi's
employees.
The outbreak led to four deaths, and the nation was shocked.
Hepatitis A infections usually occur as the result of contact with fecal matter or contaminated
food, with an incubation period of 15 to 50 days.
The ultimate source of the infection was believed to be green onions, usually served raw at
the restaurant.
That wasn't the only bad press: the restaurant had also been implicated in outbreaks in Tennessee,
Georgia, and North Carolina.
Although Chi-Chi's had filed for bankruptcy just before the outbreak, the court still
allowed victims to settle their claims against the company.
Settlements were made, including $6.25 million for a man who suffered liver failure and needed
a transplant, and a class-action lawsuit worth $800,000.
The outbreak sealed the chain's fate, and Chi-Chi's folded.
Most of its properties were bought out by Outback Steakhouse, and the last Chi-Chi's
meal in the United States was served in September 2004.
Racism at Denny's
In 1994, a class-action lawsuit was brought against national restaurant chain Denny's
for violation of federal public-accommodation laws against racial discrimination.
More than 4,300 complaints were filed against the chain, and the accusations were horrible.
Customers reported they were being forced to sit in segregated seating, that they were
arbitrarily refused service, subjected to racial slurs and taunts as they ate, or were
forced to pre-pay for their food.
While the company denied any specific policy of racial discrimination, it agreed to pay
a settlement of $54 million and promised to take immediate steps to fix the problem.
Denny's came to an agreement with the NAACP to invest $1 billion in jobs and contracts
for minorities over the following seven years and ultimately made major progress in increasing
its number of minority employees.
Whitbread pork scandal
After being caught up in the notorious horsemeat scandal of 2013, British restaurant group
Whitbread promised to institute a new system to track meat from "field to fork."
This all proved to be hogwash, as it was later discovered the company's brands were failing
to mention the beef lasagna advertised on menus was actually made from beef and pork.
Up to 250,000 of the dishes were served, with pork making up a third of the entire meat
content of the lasagna.
Whitbread claimed there had been no deliberate intent to deceive customers, saying,
"We mistakenly, and with no ill intent, missed updating the website/online menus for our
Table Table and Whitbread Inns brands, but as soon as we were alerted to this we corrected
them.
This was a genuine mistake on our part and we sincerely apologise [...]"
Representatives from the Institute for Global Food Security called the mistake "unacceptable",
saying ,
"It should be obvious to all in the food industry that there are enormous sensitivities around
this in terms of religious beliefs.
[...] Correctly labelled food is not only a matter of legislation but also having high
moral and ethical standards."
The incredibly obvious racism of Sambo's
"Sambo" is a racial slur coined in 1889, and while it's unacceptable today, there was once
a restaurant called Sambo's that deliberately played up the connection with the imagery
inside the restaurant.
The name was given as an poorly-thought-out combination of the names of founders Sam Battistone
Sr. and Newell Bohnett, but still, that's no excuse.
There were more than 1,100 locations in 47 states, and the trouble really started as
the restaurant continued to spread in the US during the American civil rights movement.
Suddenly, people weren't particularly pleased with a pancake place that shared a name with
a racial slur.
By the 1970s, the company was being hit with lawsuits, and the Rhode Island Human Rights
Commission determined
"the use of the name 'Sambo's' had the effect of notifying black persons that they were
unwelcome at Sambo's restaurants because of their race."
Eventually some locations renamed themselves, but by 1982, most of the restaurants were
closed and the company filed for bankruptcy.
Currently the only Sambo's still in operation is the original location in Santa Barbara,
run by Chad Stevens, grandson of Sam Battistone Sr.