bk_question
Junior Member
(Georgia)
Hello, Georgia resident here.
This afternoon, I went to Burger King for lunch. I ordered my food and received it. Before leaving, I needed to use the restroom. An employee had just finished mopping the restroom and had just closed the door behind her. I tried to open the door but it locks automatically, an employee has to let you in. I asked if she would let me in and she did. The door shut behind me and I went about my business.
After about three minutes pass, as I'm sitting on the toilet, there's a knock at the door. I answer loudly "Hello?" in order to let whoever is on the outside know that I am in there. Before I can even finish saying hello, the door swings open, and the same woman who had just let me in is standing in the door looking at me while I'm sitting on the toilet. I say "hello, excuse me?" She mutters, "oh", then closes the door.
I was mortified. Unlike most guys, I'm extremely reserved with regards to public restrooms due to childhood trauma. I have been trying to challenge myself more and push the boundaries but this has probably set me back.
I quickly wrapped up my business and opened the door to leave. The same employee was standing outside, opening the women's restroom for a fellow employee. She said "Sorry about that", but I was too embarrassed/traumatized to say anything. I left the restaurant.
I immediately called my mom and asked what to do. She said I file a complaint to their corporate office which I've done. I'm here to ask you all if there's anything else I can do?
There is no safeguard against an employee entering the restroom at their leisure. Burger King is essentially saying entrust our employees with your privacy. A one in one out bathroom policy is understandable if a place has had problems with illegal activity occurring in their restrooms. However, if they cannot reasonably ensure their customer's privacy against employee invasion, then this policy seems legally questionable.
One question which a friend has already raised is, she probably assumed I had already left the restroom. I do not think that is a reasonable assumption to operate under and if Burger King bathroom policy dictates to employees that they should assume their customers have finished their business within any given time frame and have thus forfeited their right to privacy, I think that is wrong. If Burger King is going to have a bathroom policy like this, they should require their employees to either 1) wait outside until the customer has left the restroom or 2) knock loudly, call out and wait for a response, if none is given, loudly announce you are entering the restroom.
So, what advice does anyone have? Is this actionable?
Hello, Georgia resident here.
This afternoon, I went to Burger King for lunch. I ordered my food and received it. Before leaving, I needed to use the restroom. An employee had just finished mopping the restroom and had just closed the door behind her. I tried to open the door but it locks automatically, an employee has to let you in. I asked if she would let me in and she did. The door shut behind me and I went about my business.
After about three minutes pass, as I'm sitting on the toilet, there's a knock at the door. I answer loudly "Hello?" in order to let whoever is on the outside know that I am in there. Before I can even finish saying hello, the door swings open, and the same woman who had just let me in is standing in the door looking at me while I'm sitting on the toilet. I say "hello, excuse me?" She mutters, "oh", then closes the door.
I was mortified. Unlike most guys, I'm extremely reserved with regards to public restrooms due to childhood trauma. I have been trying to challenge myself more and push the boundaries but this has probably set me back.
I quickly wrapped up my business and opened the door to leave. The same employee was standing outside, opening the women's restroom for a fellow employee. She said "Sorry about that", but I was too embarrassed/traumatized to say anything. I left the restaurant.
I immediately called my mom and asked what to do. She said I file a complaint to their corporate office which I've done. I'm here to ask you all if there's anything else I can do?
There is no safeguard against an employee entering the restroom at their leisure. Burger King is essentially saying entrust our employees with your privacy. A one in one out bathroom policy is understandable if a place has had problems with illegal activity occurring in their restrooms. However, if they cannot reasonably ensure their customer's privacy against employee invasion, then this policy seems legally questionable.
One question which a friend has already raised is, she probably assumed I had already left the restroom. I do not think that is a reasonable assumption to operate under and if Burger King bathroom policy dictates to employees that they should assume their customers have finished their business within any given time frame and have thus forfeited their right to privacy, I think that is wrong. If Burger King is going to have a bathroom policy like this, they should require their employees to either 1) wait outside until the customer has left the restroom or 2) knock loudly, call out and wait for a response, if none is given, loudly announce you are entering the restroom.
So, what advice does anyone have? Is this actionable?
