Author: Chris Morran

A year after being served a Whopper with some extra-special sauce inside, a sheriff’s deputy in Washington state has filed a lawsuit against Burger King, claiming the company was negligent for having an employee that spat in his burger.

It was March 24, 2009, when the deputy — in full uniform and driving his patrol vehicle — pulled into the drive-thru and ordered a Whopper. The deputy claims he sensed something was amiss in the Burger Kingdom when the employee who handed him his order could not make eye contact.

The deputy inspected his Whopper and discovered what appeared to be a phlegmy gob of spit between the buns. Suspecting a crime had taken place, he summoned other deputies to the scene, who took the Whopper into evidence.

Ultimately, the DNA in the saliva on the burger was matched to that of a 22-year-old employee. He pled guilty to third-degree assault against an officer and was sentenced to three months in jail.

But now the deputy wants BK to answer for the incident.

In a lawsuit filed in district court, the deputy alleges Burger King was “negligent in their selection, training and supervision of its employees… and failing to provide them with adequate standards.”

In addition to the spitter, the plaintiff’s lawyer claims that the employee who actually handed the burger to the deputy had hepatitis.

“There’s been no assurance after the fact that they’ve changed anything,” said his attorney. “We haven’t gotten anything — not even an apology.”

The suit seeks unspecified damages and a change in Burger King’s hiring and supervision policies.

Clark County deputy sues Burger King over spit on his food [Seattle Times]

Before you board that plane to Tel Aviv with your snazzy new iPad, you should know that your shiny tablet-y thing will be confiscated by Israeli customs officials because Israel officials have yet to give the device their stamp of approval.

The Communications Ministry in Israel explains its decision to ban iPad imports — and to confiscate iPads from incoming travelers — by saying that the device’s wireless technology is not compatible with Israeli standards:

The iPad device sold exclusively today in the United States operates at broadcast power levels [over its WiFi modem] compatible with American standards… As the Israeli regulations in the area of WiFi are similar to European standards, which are different from American standards, which permit broadcasting at lower power, therefore the broadcast levels of the device prevent approving its use in Israel.

Until the ministry approves the iPad, we suggest you keep yours at home if you’re traveling to Israel.

Beware at Customs: Gov’t has banned iPad imports [Haaretz]

With one foot in the grave already, Blockbuster is doing everything it can to keep from being dragged down into bankruptcy hell. From making risky deals with studios to get a 4-week head start on new titles to considering getting into the video game biz, they’re throwing everything against the wall in the hopes that something sticks. And in a new interview, the company’s CEO takes aim at the video-streaming service offered by Netflix.

“You tell me: Do you want to watch The Blind Side or Herbie Goes to Cancun?” Keyes asked, referring to what some have called Netflix’s less-than-stellar on-demand offerings. “Our customer demand is 60% to 80% for new releases. The subscription model does not translate effectively to what our customers want to see when they want to see them.”

(Note: I would much rather watch Herbie Goes to Cancun. Too bad it doesn’t exist.)

Keyes also admits that the closing of many Blockbuster retail outlets is essential to the changing model of the video rental business:

Stores were once a convenience and that’s why we had so many. That has now been supplanted by two other even more convenient forms of access… Here’s an analogy: If I want to buy an obscure book title, I’ll go to Amazon.com. But if I want to browse and see what’s new, I will go to Barnes & Noble.

Whaddaya think? Is Blockbuster’s focus on new releases going to help them survive? Or has the home market moved on beyond the “gotta have it the day it comes out” mentality?

Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes still sees movie-rental opportunities [L.A. Times]

Among the ranks of scams, running a fake charity falls under the heading of “soulless.” That’s why it’s both dismaying and hopeful to hear that the Attorney General for the state of New York has, at least temporarily, put a stop to an organization it claims raised more than $500,000 under false pretenses.

In the lawsuit filed by the AG’s office, it’s alleged that a charity calling itself the Coalition for Breast Cancer Cures raised more than a half-million dollars by telling donors that their money would go toward fighting breast cancer. Instead, claims the AG, that money was spent by the CBCC’s administrator’s on “luxury shopping, travel, restaurants, and other personal living expenses.”

According to the Attorney General’s investigation, donated money was spent by CBCC on some of the following expenses:
* Over $3,700 in personal hotel and airfare expenses;
* Over $5,000 at restaurants including Peter Luger Steakhouse, Caesars Palace Mesa Grill, and Gotham Bar and Grill;
* Over $7,700 in retail purchases at stores such as Louis Vuitton, Victoria’s Secret, Home Depot, Best Buy, Costco, CVS, Loehmann’s, and Target;
* Over $8,000 for sorority dues and other university expenses and fees;
* Over $1,300 for a spring break travel package;
* Thousands of dollars on groceries, Netflix, and cable television.

Additionally, the AG alleges that the CBCC’s owners “mailed phony pledge invoices and reminder notices to trick people into thinking they had made pledges.” They are also accused of using donors’ credit card info to “make multiple unauthorized charges following an initial donation, even after complaints and demands that charges be reversed.”

The CBCC and its owners have been charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud along with violating New York State’s not-for-profit and charitable solicitation laws. A temporary restraining order has been issued that stops CBCC from soliciting donations, collecting money, or destroying documents.

Says Attorney General (and presumed gubernatorial candidate) Andrew Cuomo:

This money could have helped countless individuals if the donations had actually gone to legitimate charities. New Yorkers are very generous and we want to make sure they have confidence in the charities they support.

Official Release from NY Atty General’s Office

If you’ve turned on a TV recently, you’ve probably seen one of the seemingly countless Walmart ads where the retail behemoth brags about its latest round of price cuts. But a new study says Walmart’s actually been raising its prices on groceries in 2010.

According to a report by JPMorgan Securities, since February they have seen a 2.3% average price increase for the items in their 31-item basket of grocery goods at Walmart. This follows a 1.9% increase between January and February.

As expected, Walmart responded to the report with marketing speak instead of actual answers.

“We’ve stepped it up where our customers need us to — with the basics of consumables and food,” a mouthpiece for Walmart said by way of a non-explanation, adding that the company is “adding new rollbacks and deeper price cuts.”

On the opposite end of the grocery neighborhood, WHole Foods, the nation’s most expensive grocer, has actually dropped their prices by about 5% since December.

The report does clarify that, even with the increase in prices, Walmart is still 12% less expensive than “traditional” grocers, while Whole Foods shoppers can still feel snooty about paying 14% more than they would elsewhere.

Report: Wal-Mart food prices going up [NY Post]

Remember that Tweet you wrote about Tiger Woods that seemed hilarious at the time? Or that night you shared your thoughts on your cousin Bob’s lack of personal hygiene? Good news — all of the world’s most trivial 140-character-or-less Tweets will soon be housed forever in the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress now has its bookish little hands on every public Tweet ever Tweeted in the 4-year history of Twitterdom.

Wrote the LOC on their Facebook page:

Expect to see an emphasis on the scholarly and research implications of the acquisition. I’m no Ph.D., but it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data.

In a related announcement, Google announced that that they plan to make the entire Twitter archive searchable, and will include a function that will allow you to “zoom to any point in time and ‘replay’ what people were saying publicly about a topic on Twitter.”

Google and Library of Congress archive tweets [CNN]

We already told you about Starbucks’ free coffee offer for Tax Day. Well, Dunkin’ Donuts has complicated matters — they’re giving away free donuts tomorrow, but only if you buy a cup of their coffee.

So on one hand there’s free coffee awaiting you at Starbucks, but you’ll have to pay for any food items you might want. On the other hand, if you go to Dunkin’ Donuts, you’ll have to pay for the coffee, but you get a free donut.

Where will you be scoring your free stuff tomorrow?

A few weeks back the New York Metropolitan Transit rejected a proposal from the Working Families Party that would post imitation subway service advisory signs carrying the not-that-cryptic messages of “WTF?” and “OMFG.” But that didn’t stop Working Families from printing up similarly themed t-shirts.

So if you feel like voicing your objection to MTA fare hikes and service cuts in shirt form, Working Families is giving them out to folks who donate at least $14.

Ryanair’s much-maligned plan to charge passengers to use the toilet on their flights has been completely misunderstood, says the cheapy airline’s CEO. In fact, he says he’s willing to give all the money from the pay toilets to charity to prove his point.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary made his case this morning at a press conference in Brussels, saying that people are misunderstanding his reasoning for adding pay toilets. It’s not, he says, to make money from captive cross-legged customers, but “to change peoples’ behaviour,” and to squeeze in six more additional seats.

Sez Mr. O’Leary:

If I add six extra seats, all the fares come down across-the-board by four percent… Whatever money we make on the toilets, we’ll happily give it away to some charity for incontinent air-travelers.

However, the plan has hit a rather big speed bump, with jet maker Boeing unwilling to make room for extra seats.

O’Leary says Boeing is balking on the plan that would decrease bathrooms and increase seats because the additional passengers would take the planes over FAA safety limits.

And even though Ryanair doesn’t fly domestically, it would still need FAA approval to make these changes to the U.S.-manufactured Boeing jets.

One potentially scandalous scheme O’Leary has ditched — at least for the moment — is charging customers by body weight. “We have decided we are not going to charge people by weight because there’s no way of determining who’s overweight and who’s not,” he explained.

Ryanair Confident EU Will O.K. Toilet Fees [BusinessWeek]

It’s a battle of the squeakers in this year’s last Sweet 16 match-up. In its first round duel with Delta, U.S. Airways won by a hairline margin of 75 votes. Meanwhile, in its war with LifeLock, perennial WCIA contender PayPal barely edged out the competition. Now the slates are clean for both companies to prove their lack of merit.

Which one of these companies deserves an after-school detention?

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2010 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Print the bracket, here.

Tomorrow isn’t just Tax Day, it’s also Free Coffee If You Bring In Your Own Travel Mug To Starbucks Day. It’s all part of eco-friendly, Big Picture thingy, which has something to do with saving trees. That’s all well and good, but more importantly — FREE COFFEE!

Apparently all you have to do is bring in something that qualifies as a “reusable travel mug” to score the gratis java.

Be warned that we don’t think an empty McDonald’s cup from earlier in the morning would count.

If you truly do care about the planet and stuff, feel free to check out Starbucks site for info.

It could be the biggest thing from the UK to hit American shores since the British Invasion — or at the very least it could do more harm to a teenager than a Beatles song. A Scottish brewery is slowly unleashing a beer on the former colonies that contains an astounding 32% alcohol by volume.

The beer, called Tactical Nuclear Penguin and made by Scottish microbrewery BrewDog, has shipped a small amount of their potent potable to a handful of stores in California and New York. Additionally, stateside folks are also buying bottles of the beefed-up beer through the BrewDog site.

Reads the label on the bottle:

This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. It is exactly the same manner you would enjoy a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost.

BrewDog has already faced opposition to their high-alcohol beverages on their own soil. Regulators ordered their Toyko beer, with an 18.2% alcohol content, be pulled from shelves over the company’s marketing of the product. BrewDog responded by releasing a 1.1% alcohol beer they dubbed Nanny State.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin isn’t even the strongest beer made by BrewDog. A few months ago, after German brewer Schorschbrau unveiled a beer with a hefty 40% alcohol content, the Scots one-upped them, literally with their 41% offering Sink the Bismarck!.

One thing that will keep people from throwing back a 32% beer like it’s a Bud Lite is the price. One bottle of the Tactical Nuclear Penguin will set you back around $53… per bottle.

Super-High-Alcohol Beer Heads to the U.S. [Time]

Even though front-loading washing machines are generally more efficient and clean your dirty duds better than old-school top-loading machines, some surveys show that around 3 out of 4 American households are still loading from above. Our brighter brethren at Consumer Reports endeavored to find out why.

Price: With some rare exceptions, front-loading washers are anywhere from 25-50% more expensive than comparable top-loading machines.

Vibration: Some front-loaders cause significant vibration, often perceived as the machines being noisy. If your washer is situated on a wood floor, or if it’s within earshot of your living room or bedroom, this can be a big annoyance.

Ergonomics: Bending over to load and unload a front-loader can takes its toll on your back.

Mold: Moisture and debris trapped in the seal of a front-loader door can cause a mold problem, especially if you run cold-water loads on a regular basis.

Over at CR, they have some tips on how to deal with the mold issue, if that’s a concern of yours.

Top-loading washers remain more popular with Americans [Consumer Reports]

In case you hadn’t looked at the calendar in a few days, here’s a reminder that tomorrow is April 15 — better known as the day you are supposed to have filed your federal and state income tax returns (unless you live in some flood-ravaged areas, that is). So we want to get a feel for how many of you have waited until the last minute.

We’re also curious about whether or not you’re e-filing or trusting the USPS to deliver your return. If you did file by mail, tell us why in the comments.

If you’ve gone on YouTube any time in the last year, you’re probably already familiar with the Blendtec Total Blender, which has been used to pulverize everything from iPhones and iPads to video games and Rubik’s Cubes. But our ever-pragmatic second cousin (once removed) at Consumer Reports wants to know: Can I actually use it to blend something I’d want to eat?

CR is currently putting the Blendtec through its paces at their secret laboratory hidden deep under Wayne Manor in Yonkers, NY. And while you’ll have to wait until the June issue of Consumer Reports to see how the vaunted blades of the Blendtec stand up, the testers did have this to say in a preliminary blog entry:

The Blendtec Total Blender TB-611-20 has excelled at crushing ice but has been only so-so at icy drinks and smoothies, jobs that require more than just raw power to render the right consistency. This Blendtec Total Blender is also among the noisier models being reviewed.

And just for good measure, here’s the Blendtec chewing up a MarioKart wheel. I was never any good at that game anyway.

Inside Consumer Reports Test Labs: Blendtec Total Blender can handle an iPad, but can it make a good smoothie? [Consumer Reports Home & Garden Blog]

For the second year in a row, Hawaiian Airlines has topped a study that ranks 18 commercial carriers according to a formula that accounts for everything from on-time arrivals/departures to baggage handling to customer complaints. On the bottom end of the rankings was American Eagle.

In addition to taking the overall top spot, Hawaiian Airlines also had the best on-time performance rating with 92.1% of their flights showing up when they were supposed to.

Rounding out the top four spots — all of which remain unchanged from last year — in the joint Purdue University/Wichita State University study: AirTran at #2, JetBlue in the #3 slot and Northwest cruising in at #4.

As mentioned, American Eagle did the worst this year, slipping two spots from 2008 to bring up the rear. While it’s overall score improved from the previous study, it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the other bottom dwellers who inched up a bit in 2009.

Last year’s caboose airline, Atlantic Southwest, was the runner-up for the loser list. It was followed, in ascending order by Comair at #16, Delta — the nation’s biggest airline — at the #15 spot, and SkyWest at #14.

Here’s the whole list from top to bottom:
#1: Hawaiian Airlines
#2: AirTran
#3: JetBlue
#4: Northwest
#5: Southwest
#6: Continental
#7: Frontier
#8: U.S. Airways
#9: American
#10: ExpressJet
#11: Alaska
#12: Mesa
#13: United
#14: SkyWest
#15: Delta
#16: Comair
#17: Atlantic Southwest
#18: American Eagle

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE REPORT [pdf]

The City of Brotherly Love certainly lived up to its name as a bus driver in Philadelphia was told by her dispatcher to keep on making stops, in spite of the man dying on her bus.

Around 4 a.m. Sunday morning, the driver noticed that an elderly passenger was unresponsive and appeared to have urinated in his trousers. She contacted the SEPTA control center who told her to keep making stops and not to delay service.

A few stops later, a supervisor hopped on board the bus to check the passenger and determined he was breathing. According to transcripts of the driver’s radio conversation, she was ordered to keep driving the route to the terminal, where police would take him off her hands.

Unfortunately, by the time she reached the terminal, the 68-year-old had gone from breathing to not-breathing.

“It just boggles me that I was riding around and he was deceased and other passengers were getting on,” said the bus driver. “Could I have done anything to save him?”

SEPTA defends their decision thusly: “There was no indication whatsoever of a medical emergency… What it appeared to be was an intoxicated person who had passed out.”

Transport Workers Union Local 234 said it plans to file a grievance.

What do you think the driver should have done? Should she have risked her job or did she do the proper thing by listening to her superiors?

Dying man gets no help on SEPTA [Metro via NBC Philadelphia]

Thanks to Pete for the tip!

A new report issued by the Dept. of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General says that tainted meat is making its way to your dinner plate because of a combination of inter-departmental squabbling and a lack of general oversight by the regulatory agencies involved.

It’s the Food & Drug Adminstration’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that’s responsible to testing meat for bacteriological contamination and for high levels of residue from metals, antibiotics and pesticides. However, FSIS relies on both the FDA and EPA to set tolerable limits for those residues, and their failure to do so has resulted in meat being sold to consumers that probably should not have been.

Meat Residue Audit

Reads the report:

Together, FSIS, FDA, and EPA have not established thresholds for many dangerous substances (e.g., copper or dioxin), which have resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce.

One very embarrassing situation involves a shipment of U.S. meat to Mexico that was turned away by Mexican authorities after determining it contained higher-than-allowable levels of copper. Since the U.S. sets no limit on copper, there was no way to prevent that beef from being re-sold stateside.

There’s also some finger-pointing going on between the agencies involved:

Although EPA routinely asks FSIS to test for pesticides the three agencies have together determined to be high health risks, FSIS has, for many years, continued to test for only one type of pesticide, citing its limited resources and the fact that EPA has not established tolerances for many varieties of pesticide.

The Inspector General’s report also laments FSIS’ ability to get the recall ball rolling in cases where it does find high levels of contaminants. The report claims that between July 12, 2007 and March 11, 2008, FSIS found that four carcasses were adulterated with violative levels of veterinary drugs and that the plants involved had released the meat into the food supply.

“Although the drugs involved could result in stomach, nerve, or skin problems for consumers, FSIS requested no recall,” reads the report. “Officials explained that when meat enters commerce, the agency must prove that consuming a single serving of the contaminated meat is likely to cause harm” before it can ask the plant to issue a voluntary recall. And if the plant won’t do so voluntarily, FSIS must then find a U.S. Attorney to file a motion in district court.

Times are tough everywhere, it seems. Even behind the gilded gates of Hollywood estates, the tax man cometh and the shadow of foreclosure looms large. Now, two of Tinseltown’s higher-profile oddballs, Pamela Anderson and Nicolas Cage, are both feeling the sting of the economic downturn.

First, a newly released from the California Franchise Tax Board includes Ms. Anderson among the list of folks owing more thatn $100,000 in back taxes to the state. According to the document, a lien of $493,144 was filed against the former Baywatch babe last April.

Perhaps that’s why she’s trying to regain some popularity by hoofing it on Dancing With the Stars (a show whose title I’ve always found a bit specious)?

Meanwhile, over in crazy-actor-land, not only has Nicolas Cage lost his sprawling Bel-Air mansion to foreclosure, the new owners were unable to dump it off to the highest bidder at an auction last week.

Cage could probably take a few lessons from HGTV on how to dress his home for potential buyers.

“The design was ‘frat house bordello,’ ” said one real estate agent who had the pleasure of touring the property. “There must have been 300 comic book covers elaborately framed and hanging on the walls.”

Foreclosure auction of Nicolas Cage’s mansion is a flop [L.A. Times]

Pamela Anderson owes more than $493,000 in back taxes, named a delinquent taxpayer [NY Daily News]

It’s airlines meets air time in today’s Sweet 16 battle. In the far corner, wearing blue trunks and sporting a thick Chicago accent is United Airlines! Let’s give it up for exorbitant fees! In the near corner, sporting red trunks and coming straight outta Philadelphia is the Comcastic Kid! Can I get a cheer for inept customer service?!

Now it’s time for you to decide, which company deserves to be treated like a punching bag?

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2010 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america. Print the bracket, here.