Kellogg's Responds to Employee Urination Incident

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Kellogg's is responding to a video showing a man urinating onto a conveyor belt at one of its factories. The video was taken in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2014 during a labor dispute, so any affected products are past their expiration date. In other words, it's too late to worry whether your box of Rice Krispies was tainted.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has started a criminal investigation, and the company is investigating internally. Of course, customers are furious.

Kellogg's has issued a statement and is addressing questions on its Facebook page. To CNN, Kris Charles, a Kellogg's spokesman, said the company is "outraged by this completely unacceptable situation." He also said, "We were shocked and deeply disappointed by this video that we just learned of yesterday. We immediately alerted law enforcement authorities and regulators." 

Kellogg's response

Kellogg's also posted a notice on its website.

Discussion Starters:

  • What would lead an employee to take this action? Imagine the scene at the factory. Would other employees see this and not take action? In other words, how does something like this happen?
  • Are people over-reacting, or is this a serious issue?
  • Assess the company's response. How well did the social media manager address the Facebook post? Could he or she have said anything different?
  • In addition to the statement given to CNN, what else could the company have said?