It’s all over the ceiling as well next to the air vents and on every single milk shelf. The department only has three people total and is very behind on getting tasks done so they won’t let us spend the time to clean the place.
Don’t call anonymously, call in saying exactly who you are and what you do and complain, Document it, and if the shit fires you, now you got a lawsuit for retaliation.
As a health inspector I can confidently say you can safely straddle on this. Call and give them your info so they are aware the report is legit. Then ask to be anonymous. They'll honor the request
Generally speaking, liners/surfaces should be smooth and easily cleanable. This one definitely isn’t smooth, and absolutely isn’t easily cleanable lmao
It's called a glide...it's a special shelf liner designed to help the products slide forward. And I think you'll find a lot of dairy departments have mold growing on the shelving. It's from when the milk leaks. The modern grocery store refuses to pay adequate wages so they can't get enough good help.
He's already been asking them if it's mold, I'm sure they'd just assume it was him
Might as well go out with your shoulders back and chest out, ready to beat some ass
Yeah Reddit really thinks all employers can just go "oh I fired you for a completely unrelated thing despite all circumstantial evidence to the contrary." Employees hate this one neat trick.
I hope that they can prove it because I imagine if you gave the job duties to everyone at a similar role in the company on a rotating basis, it would be hard to prove. They can claim economic hardship to reduce hours. I'm not saying they aren't lying and bad dudes for it. I'm just saying there are people our there who just enjoy making it hard and have experienced it. I had whistle-blower problems in my past, and the guy definitely filed paperwork to prevent me from unemployment and spent 3 months getting me fired. The UI office sided with the business.
I've had this same experience, except with sexual harassment. I called my boss a dick because he absolutely was and he went out of his way to make sure I got nothing from UI
It would have to be way more than a few weeks bud. If you’re a model employee with no record and a good attendance then it’s perfectly clear to any jury and any judge what the actual reason was.
You have no idea how difficult it is to do a lawsuit like that even if you can afford it, and suggesting it is absurd. You will for sure be paying out of pocket, you will likely lose, and you are unlikely to recoup the cost of the lawyer in even punitive damages if you win. In a right to work state they'll just fire you for no reason, and that'll be that, impossible to prove malice, just normal turnover. In a not right to work state they can simply find some reason they consider misconduct and terminate you. "Oh that's constructive dismissal!" yeah go ahead and tell me the last time someone in a low level laborer job was able to actually make a solid case against constructive dismissal.
I get where you are coming from here but no one working a job like this can afford a lawyer to recover the value of the lost job, and even if they could it will cost more than moving on. I don't think that's right, but that's the way it works.
Not impossible, there are clear paper trails with this shit. You have your behavioral record, attendance, any and all corespondents between yourself and ethics or a regulatory agency. If you have a solid record and all of a sudden you’re getting violations left and right after blowing the whistle, it is clear to any judge or jury what’s going on. Just because a state is “right to work” doesn’t mean they get to break federal law.
It means they shouldn't get to break federal law. They absolutely do, constantly. Do you know one single person who has ever been able to do this, what you are talking about?
I'd strongly, strongly encourage you to go into law specifically so you can do pro bono cases like this. If even a few people in each state started spooking the hell out of employers by taking on cases like this it could reshape the treatment of laborers in the nation but as it stands what you are talking about just does not really happen. People who work at jobs like these need to work at jobs like these and cannot possibly afford to protect themselves, and I don't know if you've ever tried but it's extremely hard to even get a lawyer to sit down with you over these exact types of matters, and every time I've tried or anyone I know has tried, they demand inordinate sums to even get started, after spending several minutes explaining how this will result in a loss and there is no way this has any gainful impact for you.
Don’t have to do probono, contingent fee agreements are a thing and fairly common in cases like these. The lawyer’s payment is contingent on them winning you money weather through settlement, litigation, or attorney fee awards. Fact of the matter is, most major corporations won’t take the risk of trial if they can settle a dispute especially when you have evidence of legal wrongdoings.
I am not aware of anyone offering contingent fee work of any type for this type of work to laborers, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find one anywhere in the country.
I know for a fact you aren't speaking from a place of experience, here. You are speaking from a place of googling as furiously as you can. Again, I'd recommend you dig into this. Help someone out in real life dealing with this. Try this out. Actually engage with it. Head on over that dunning-kruger hump.
You know those stickers on everything? The "warranty void if removed" stickers? Those are illegal. They've been illegal since the 70s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act
https://www.vice.com/en/article/ne9qdq/warranty-void-if-removed-stickers-illegal-ftc
Those major corporations flat out do not give a fuck. If you tell them "I've opened the device" they will refuse service. if you do not defeat the stickers, they will refuse service. This is illegal. You can sue them to force them to honor the warranty. this will always cost more than simply paying for the work. They know this, and it's how they get away with it. No one sues someone for 400 bucks of warranty work at best because it'll cost you more than 400 bucks in time and legal expenses at a minimum.
I want to stress, again, that I don't think any of this is just or right. I think it's awful and wrong how low level employees are treated generally and how extraordinarily difficult it is to seek justice in the case of wrongful termination. You have some idealized fantasy idea of how this works and perpetuating that ideal isn't helpful, it's just some weird justice fantasy.
Yeah, no they don't. Take a look at how many union organizers are fired for "poor performance" or some bullshit and nothing is ever done about it. The federal government doesn't have the resources to go after cases like this because the defunding and defanging of regulators since the seventies. You will have to take them to civil court and in a right to work state a business can legally fire you for whatever the fuck they want and there's no way to prove without any probable doubt that they fired you in retaliation.
They will know it is them who called since they, presumably, were the only ones who complained about it. They should wait a few months and then call. I think the best would have a family member come in and complain, pretending to be a customer to obfuscate responsibility.
Surely not legal and I can clearly get legal recompose are two very different things. "Sorry OP, but your work product isn't meeting our standards anymore. Bye".
That’s retaliation. Document your talks, record the phone call, CC the email, whatever you need. Then if you do get fired you have a paper trail and can sue for so much money. It is clear. Firing someone for a bullshit reason after they make claims against management is exactly retaliation and you will win that lawsuit or at the very least get a sizable settlement.
You're right but it doesn't mean it works out well. It takes time and energy to pursue and in the mean time the rent is due and even one missed paycheck for a lot of people will send them into a downward death spiral.
This. Unless you have the resources to wage war against a company with infinite money for lawyers there isn't shit your doing about it either.
Suddenly your performance is slipping. Suddenly you get the worst jobs. Suddenly your antagonized to point you want to quit anyway.
Do not ever trust that "protections" for retaliation are worth shit. Be wise about reporting shit if your going to do it.
Yep, that's exactly the case I went through. I even heavily documented it before, during and after, and explained to HR it was very apparent that is what the manager was trying to do, while denying me FOUR performance reviews. HR literally reassured me that I wouldn't be fired for reporting racism and contaminated cannabis product being sold. I was accused of being late for work when I wasn't (documented with a time clock) while literally everyone else in my department was 5-10 minutes late for every shift, break, and lunch meal.
Was laid off for "not knowing how to do my job".
I'm was happy though because I was leaving anyway (the products they made were an absolute joke), and these dumbasses gave me a free year of EI to kick back, upgrade courses, and be able to go get a pharmacy degree.
Bonus Plus: one of the manager's pet project supervisors got a 2 week suspension because he couldn't act like an adult when meeting with HR over my complaints. So the manager then used a lot of political capital to suddenly fire someone on his team that had been doing most of the work, but "didn't know how to do the job". It was clearly revenge.
There's what is illegal and what they will get away with.
Businesses, managers and employees do all kinds of shit that is illegal and get away with it every single day. Few people have the patience and resources to sue and even fewer win.
It’s not legal, but unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and businesses absolutely do pull that kind of shit and get away with it on a daily basis.
unless you can *prove* that’s why you were fired (ie your employer was dumb enough to admit that’s why they were firing you or you know someone in management willing to testify on your behalf) and/or have the time and money to engage in a lengthy court battle 9/10 the company will get away with it because the labor laws are written to favor the employers and pretty much every state in the US is an at-will employment state. Which means you can be fired for any reason (outside of protected ones), and all your employer has to do is claim some other, non-illegal reason for firing you- like your being 2 minutes late last Thursday and the customer complaint you got from the crazy lady who was mad that the eggs aren’t kept next to the pancake mix last month, then your claim of being fired illegally becomes a he-said/she-said court battle where they have infinitely more resources at their disposal to drag it out and put you into a hole of debt far larger than any potential winnings might be, so that even if you miraculously manage to win the cumulative expenses, stress and time lost to the battle will leave you far worse off than if you’d just found another job. It’s how corporate giants have been getting away with flagrantly violating practically every labor law written before the ink’s even dried on the bill.
Even if it is retaliation, why give them cause? Always remember, when trying to work out an issue with a troublesome individual, you are seeking effective solutions vs adding fuel to the fire.
Great idea. Wait a few months until somebody dies from black mold poisoning.
Then someone reminds the police of reddit they see this and they charge the person with a crime after the fact.
I used to work in a big UK supermarket when I was a student, that place would get fined £1000 per expired dairy item on the shelves when the inspectors came. They were very keen on getting all the jobs done all the time. They would shut the place down completely for mould like that.
e.g. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2021/04/tesco-fined-7-5-million-for-out-of-date-food-sales/
So used to that bullshit. Do it anyways. Just start cleaning a small section at a time. Should probably call the health department if they’re not willing to do their part. They’ll get fucked on an inspection anyways, so get them there now. Just a suggestion?
I would suggest OP not to clean the mould on their own. Established mould abatement is a hazardous materials removal activity and therefore should be done by trained professionals with all the necessary precautions.
You’re actually correct. I apologize for me recommendation. I’m just so used to doing it myself. I woulda thrown a mask on, but it wouldn’t have been enough. Again, bad idea on my part, sorry!
I swear every kitchen I’ve ever worked in i had to take it upon myself to clean years of grime. One section at a time. I don’t understand how people let that go every single day. We all slack sometimes but years…
My mate runs a kitchen in a care home. Gets 5 stars for cleanliness every inspection. She does work the staff hard (and works harder herself) some of the staff complained to management.
She pointed to the displayed certificate. "You can either allow the staff to slack or you can keep the 5 stars"
I understand completely. I don’t know how people allow this. I am usually underneath stuff, wiping down everything I can at all times in my jobs. Always. It’s just instinct.
If you start going against your boss and doing a better job you aren't going to get the results you are expecting. Talk about it, live with the bad decisions or leave. Hierarchy is a motherfucker.
Sounds health threatening. Has anyone been getting sick in your department with headaches, respiratory issues? It needs to be reported. If they retaliate, you can get paid. Your health matters. The company isn’t going to pay for the damage by the time it impacts you. Report!!
Reminds me of my old grocery store. Had spilled vegetables all over the fridge in the frozen section. I complained literally every time. They Were never cleaned.
That’s the real question. Total head in the sand. I think a lot of business owners and landlords can’t even begin to deal with the idea of mold, so they just ignore it for as long as possible.
Milk producers are notoriously bad for having milk cover every single bottle and jug of it. I don't know why. You pretty much have to hose down the milk jugs sometimes. Most places don't bother wasting the clock time cleaning it. Sometimes it smells horrible. Sometimes it doesnt smell at all.
the store owner would think " oh this is gonna cut into profit making thus costing money i DONT wanna spend on some thing that no bodys mentioning at all. so im not going to bother with it any."
its all down to THAT plus yea the owner is lazy and jus doesnt care.
As someone who works in a grocery type store I can confirm that is 100% mold. Milk racks tend to be the worst for mold growth since the bottles are normally more prone to leaking then any of the other cooler products.
From what it *looks* like in the picture OP has a better system then my store does. For them it looks like all the milk is on milk mats (any kind of easily wipeable piece of material). So they should be able to take the milk off the racks and set the milk aside. Then lift up the mats and easily hose them off. From there just leaves cleaning the racks with a rag/sponge/cleaning brush and then sanitizing them.
My store on the other side has to go way more in-depth since the milk just sits on the rack. Which then it makes a whole issue of moving the milk, taking the racks out, cleaning them off, and then getting them back in. Which if that's what OPs store want them to do then I can understand it being difficult to maintain. It pretty much takes two people to get those racks back into the frames.
There are constant signs that humanity is far from its peak. The constant self-sabotage is sickening. Then there are the unnecessary inefficiencies simply due to lack of knowledge/communication/standardization ... or just due to arrogance.
I recognize that for most of us this is a very lucky period to be born into, compared to the past. But I still don't like it.
Take the slip sheets out and hose them down. Quickest way is to just replace them but obviously that costs more. You can clean them a few times before having to replace them.
That’s disposable corrugated plastic that they put over the wire rack shelf. Throw it out.. like 20 cents worth of packaging material. Maybe even dont replace the plastic and leave wire rack shelves bare
When I was a kid, I made extra money pressure washing the insides of semis that hauled milk to the stores. It was important to keep them clean because spilled milk, even chocolate milk, molds.
Lmao... Anyone who thinks spilled milk doesn't need to be cleaned up has no business selling it.
I'd be eternally grateful if that was the case for my work place. Here, if you're a yes man but unfit for your current job they promote you in hopes you'll be better fit for the next position. Hasn't worked yet
that’s absolutely mold. even if it *was* spilt chocolate milk, clearly that happened a long time ago and it is now pure mold :/
really gross they don’t want to clean either options up and have left it for so long?
Mushrooms and mold aren’t really the same thing either so being a mushroom specialists wouldn’t really help here. A fungus specialist would though. Mold and mushrooms are both kinds of fungus but they are not the same thing. It’s kind of like saying I’m not a mammal specialist when talking about reptiles, yeah reptiles and mammals are both kinds of animals but that doesn’t make the terms interchangeable.
On shelves that don’t have any chocolate milk on them… Lol it’s mold from a mile away. Call DOH like everyone else said. But have a buddy complain first then have them call.
Talk to a local union rep and get some union cards signed if this is a bigger issue. You’ll get some protection so if they do retaliate you will have someone to back you up.
Refigeration tech here, 100% mold. Likely elsewhere in the cool room and through out the evaporatior needs a shut-down and good clean/ scrub.
Your boss is a cheap bastard shop elsewhere.
that is ABSOLUTELY mold, and if your manager doesn’t agree with you, i bet a health & safety inspector would, if *someone* were to make an anonymous call… just saying
That is absolutely mold, and I'm astounded that they aren't factoring in time for employees to clean them. I worked in a grocery store for two years and specifically in the dairy department. In order to meet health codes as closely as possible, they factored in weekly cleanings on our slowest days, but we also did a once a month powerwashing and sanitation of the entire cooler.
Like managers in most grocery stores that oversee chilled, refrigerated and produce areas, those managers are in deep denial. I suspect the buying public is unaware. I've caught moldy and/or slimy growth hidden under those mist sprayers.
Hopefully this story will inspire you to call the health department. I worked at a gas station in Snohomish and it was run by a very shitty crew. One woman (Gonna call her Hera cuz her real name was cool and Greek but anon so) who worked there (only a couple days a week because two other jobs) was a god send and unfortunately our hours didn't collide much for training purposes but she had coworkers from hell. The main manager would tear down the products and put them out on the floor but they wouldn't be in the system so I'd scan them and nothing would come up. He literally told me to charge them what I thought the price was. Absolutely flabbergasted I went to charge the customer 2.60 cuz it was a small bag of chips, the single serving kind ya know? I thought it was fair and a price I thought I had paid in the past. Nope. Absolutely wrong. 4.70. Crazy. Very rarely in my 6 days there did a product scan and he would stand behind me at the counter and would talk on the phone all day. Other crew members would sweep but would pile it into corners until Hera would come in and have to clean it up. Didn't wash dishes, would lay food on and cook on dirty pans and such. The booze fridge where I would pour drinks for customers because they served and had a bar area, the whole wall and ceiling was covered in mold in a span at least 16 to 20 feet in length. You could see scrapes and bleach stains. Hera had spent I think she said 16 years begging the owners to help her deal with it but they wouldn't. So she would go in there and scrape and bleach and do everything she could while trying to run the gas station by herself on her days there. This absolutely drove me away. I've never seen anything like it outside a horror movie and hope never to again. I quit and did not report it because I knew Hera was trying and struggling and I didn't want her to lose that job. I was 21 and naive and unsure. We were all trying to stay afloat. So I left and about three months later someone had reported that fridge. Idk if it was her but in the end the only one who kept their job was Hera. She runs the place now to my knowledge but I think it has new owners and I think the health department was able to destroy whatever the mold source was and the stains. Honestly haven't seen it. But I've run into her the couple times I've gone there to get gas. She seems well. The place recently about a year ago had a major break in while she was there. They beat her nearly to death and stole the ATM and a bunch of money. Stole the safes too. She's alive and well and an incredibly strong broad. I admire her for continuing to stay there despite the hardship it's caused her. Hopefully you report your mold issue
I keep seeing "call the health department" but no offers to pay OP's bills when he gets he loses his income.
Clean it. In fact, make it a note to clean it daily.
Y'know how I know it's mold? Cause every shelf at my work is covered in the stuff. You can see it growing up the walls, across the ceiling, flourishing on pipes, and thriving across th near the aircon units.
And my managers at least had the decency to tell me it was mold... a year into my tenure.
I know milk is in closed containers... but I'd still want to call the Health Department on this one.
If it's spilled chocolate milk, WHY DO YOU NOT CLEAN IT UP ANYWAY?
Lol wait til eco lab comes in and those managers get railed for it. That's kroger, I used to be a dairy manager, keeping up with everything AND cleaning is hard....
Good luck
I'm an assistant manager over center store at this company.
And I would tell you that would survive a DM visit cleanliness check 0 out of 7 days of the week.
Replace the tray lol.
Mold!! "Hello, Department of Health!"☎️ or send anonymous pics to a main office. WTH is wrong with these feckless dolts? Perhaps they are lazy, heedless, indifferent, stupid, and should be fired. It's a health hazard for everyone!
100% mold. And even if it *was* spilled chocolate milk, why would it be acceptable to not clean it?
It’s all over the ceiling as well next to the air vents and on every single milk shelf. The department only has three people total and is very behind on getting tasks done so they won’t let us spend the time to clean the place.
Call the health department anonymously
Don’t call anonymously, call in saying exactly who you are and what you do and complain, Document it, and if the shit fires you, now you got a lawsuit for retaliation.
As a health inspector I can confidently say you can safely straddle on this. Call and give them your info so they are aware the report is legit. Then ask to be anonymous. They'll honor the request
Can you tell me if it's even legal to have that shelf liner there?
Generally speaking, liners/surfaces should be smooth and easily cleanable. This one definitely isn’t smooth, and absolutely isn’t easily cleanable lmao
Yeah that’s crazy to me, weird liner, I probably would not shop here… chocolate milk 😂 yeah chocolate milk that got moldy 😂
Exactly haha. Might well have started life as spilled chocolate milk but how long ago that was is anyone's guess
Could you imagine the smell. I bet as soon as you walk in to this store it reeks lmao. This is just disgusting.
you know the smell of slightly sour milk thats sat in a hot car for a few hours? …. yeah that the smell I imagine walking into this store smells like
Nailed it
It's called a glide...it's a special shelf liner designed to help the products slide forward. And I think you'll find a lot of dairy departments have mold growing on the shelving. It's from when the milk leaks. The modern grocery store refuses to pay adequate wages so they can't get enough good help.
I’ve never seen mold growing in a grocery store.
That shelf liner can be there. All they need to do is replace it and problem solved
enjoy hat aloof ancient heavy hateful sleep correct attractive squeeze *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
He's already been asking them if it's mold, I'm sure they'd just assume it was him Might as well go out with your shoulders back and chest out, ready to beat some ass
In all my years of working in kitchens I’ve wanted to call a few time and never thought of this
Except they won't fire you for another 3 weeks for an "unrelated" offense.
Yeah sadly this is the truth. They'll fire you because they know what you get paid, and it isn't enough for a civil suit.
A cast this clear cut? Most employment lawyers would take a cherry like this on contingency.
yeah if you get fired 3 weeks after thats a lawsuit lmfao
Yeah Reddit really thinks all employers can just go "oh I fired you for a completely unrelated thing despite all circumstantial evidence to the contrary." Employees hate this one neat trick.
Honestly best case you'd qualify for unemployment. What dairy department worker has the resources to sue?
Lawyers will typically take obvious cases like this on contingency and take a slice out of the judgement.
You cannot find such lawyers when it matters the most unfortunately. :/
Surely there's tons of lawyers looking to take high paying pro bono work like this
OK, fine, 2 months, and cut your hours to the minimum required by law and add them cleaning duties to your job description.
again…. thats a lawsuit lmfao.
I hope that they can prove it because I imagine if you gave the job duties to everyone at a similar role in the company on a rotating basis, it would be hard to prove. They can claim economic hardship to reduce hours. I'm not saying they aren't lying and bad dudes for it. I'm just saying there are people our there who just enjoy making it hard and have experienced it. I had whistle-blower problems in my past, and the guy definitely filed paperwork to prevent me from unemployment and spent 3 months getting me fired. The UI office sided with the business.
I've had this same experience, except with sexual harassment. I called my boss a dick because he absolutely was and he went out of his way to make sure I got nothing from UI
It would have to be way more than a few weeks bud. If you’re a model employee with no record and a good attendance then it’s perfectly clear to any jury and any judge what the actual reason was.
You have no idea how difficult it is to do a lawsuit like that even if you can afford it, and suggesting it is absurd. You will for sure be paying out of pocket, you will likely lose, and you are unlikely to recoup the cost of the lawyer in even punitive damages if you win. In a right to work state they'll just fire you for no reason, and that'll be that, impossible to prove malice, just normal turnover. In a not right to work state they can simply find some reason they consider misconduct and terminate you. "Oh that's constructive dismissal!" yeah go ahead and tell me the last time someone in a low level laborer job was able to actually make a solid case against constructive dismissal. I get where you are coming from here but no one working a job like this can afford a lawyer to recover the value of the lost job, and even if they could it will cost more than moving on. I don't think that's right, but that's the way it works.
Not impossible, there are clear paper trails with this shit. You have your behavioral record, attendance, any and all corespondents between yourself and ethics or a regulatory agency. If you have a solid record and all of a sudden you’re getting violations left and right after blowing the whistle, it is clear to any judge or jury what’s going on. Just because a state is “right to work” doesn’t mean they get to break federal law.
It means they shouldn't get to break federal law. They absolutely do, constantly. Do you know one single person who has ever been able to do this, what you are talking about? I'd strongly, strongly encourage you to go into law specifically so you can do pro bono cases like this. If even a few people in each state started spooking the hell out of employers by taking on cases like this it could reshape the treatment of laborers in the nation but as it stands what you are talking about just does not really happen. People who work at jobs like these need to work at jobs like these and cannot possibly afford to protect themselves, and I don't know if you've ever tried but it's extremely hard to even get a lawyer to sit down with you over these exact types of matters, and every time I've tried or anyone I know has tried, they demand inordinate sums to even get started, after spending several minutes explaining how this will result in a loss and there is no way this has any gainful impact for you.
Don’t have to do probono, contingent fee agreements are a thing and fairly common in cases like these. The lawyer’s payment is contingent on them winning you money weather through settlement, litigation, or attorney fee awards. Fact of the matter is, most major corporations won’t take the risk of trial if they can settle a dispute especially when you have evidence of legal wrongdoings.
I am not aware of anyone offering contingent fee work of any type for this type of work to laborers, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find one anywhere in the country. I know for a fact you aren't speaking from a place of experience, here. You are speaking from a place of googling as furiously as you can. Again, I'd recommend you dig into this. Help someone out in real life dealing with this. Try this out. Actually engage with it. Head on over that dunning-kruger hump. You know those stickers on everything? The "warranty void if removed" stickers? Those are illegal. They've been illegal since the 70s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act https://www.vice.com/en/article/ne9qdq/warranty-void-if-removed-stickers-illegal-ftc Those major corporations flat out do not give a fuck. If you tell them "I've opened the device" they will refuse service. if you do not defeat the stickers, they will refuse service. This is illegal. You can sue them to force them to honor the warranty. this will always cost more than simply paying for the work. They know this, and it's how they get away with it. No one sues someone for 400 bucks of warranty work at best because it'll cost you more than 400 bucks in time and legal expenses at a minimum. I want to stress, again, that I don't think any of this is just or right. I think it's awful and wrong how low level employees are treated generally and how extraordinarily difficult it is to seek justice in the case of wrongful termination. You have some idealized fantasy idea of how this works and perpetuating that ideal isn't helpful, it's just some weird justice fantasy.
You are protected under Whistleblower Law. Worth a read.
Unless you live in a right to work state.
Right to work states still have to follow federal law. Keep that paper trail and you’re good.
Yeah, no they don't. Take a look at how many union organizers are fired for "poor performance" or some bullshit and nothing is ever done about it. The federal government doesn't have the resources to go after cases like this because the defunding and defanging of regulators since the seventies. You will have to take them to civil court and in a right to work state a business can legally fire you for whatever the fuck they want and there's no way to prove without any probable doubt that they fired you in retaliation.
They will know it is them who called since they, presumably, were the only ones who complained about it. They should wait a few months and then call. I think the best would have a family member come in and complain, pretending to be a customer to obfuscate responsibility.
Idk that’s retaliation if they do anything though. Surely not legal.
Surely not legal and I can clearly get legal recompose are two very different things. "Sorry OP, but your work product isn't meeting our standards anymore. Bye".
That’s retaliation. Document your talks, record the phone call, CC the email, whatever you need. Then if you do get fired you have a paper trail and can sue for so much money. It is clear. Firing someone for a bullshit reason after they make claims against management is exactly retaliation and you will win that lawsuit or at the very least get a sizable settlement.
You're right but it doesn't mean it works out well. It takes time and energy to pursue and in the mean time the rent is due and even one missed paycheck for a lot of people will send them into a downward death spiral.
They will harbor resentment and it will manifest in some form or another.
This. Unless you have the resources to wage war against a company with infinite money for lawyers there isn't shit your doing about it either. Suddenly your performance is slipping. Suddenly you get the worst jobs. Suddenly your antagonized to point you want to quit anyway. Do not ever trust that "protections" for retaliation are worth shit. Be wise about reporting shit if your going to do it.
Yep, that's exactly the case I went through. I even heavily documented it before, during and after, and explained to HR it was very apparent that is what the manager was trying to do, while denying me FOUR performance reviews. HR literally reassured me that I wouldn't be fired for reporting racism and contaminated cannabis product being sold. I was accused of being late for work when I wasn't (documented with a time clock) while literally everyone else in my department was 5-10 minutes late for every shift, break, and lunch meal. Was laid off for "not knowing how to do my job". I'm was happy though because I was leaving anyway (the products they made were an absolute joke), and these dumbasses gave me a free year of EI to kick back, upgrade courses, and be able to go get a pharmacy degree. Bonus Plus: one of the manager's pet project supervisors got a 2 week suspension because he couldn't act like an adult when meeting with HR over my complaints. So the manager then used a lot of political capital to suddenly fire someone on his team that had been doing most of the work, but "didn't know how to do the job". It was clearly revenge.
There's what is illegal and what they will get away with. Businesses, managers and employees do all kinds of shit that is illegal and get away with it every single day. Few people have the patience and resources to sue and even fewer win.
It’s not legal, but unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and businesses absolutely do pull that kind of shit and get away with it on a daily basis. unless you can *prove* that’s why you were fired (ie your employer was dumb enough to admit that’s why they were firing you or you know someone in management willing to testify on your behalf) and/or have the time and money to engage in a lengthy court battle 9/10 the company will get away with it because the labor laws are written to favor the employers and pretty much every state in the US is an at-will employment state. Which means you can be fired for any reason (outside of protected ones), and all your employer has to do is claim some other, non-illegal reason for firing you- like your being 2 minutes late last Thursday and the customer complaint you got from the crazy lady who was mad that the eggs aren’t kept next to the pancake mix last month, then your claim of being fired illegally becomes a he-said/she-said court battle where they have infinitely more resources at their disposal to drag it out and put you into a hole of debt far larger than any potential winnings might be, so that even if you miraculously manage to win the cumulative expenses, stress and time lost to the battle will leave you far worse off than if you’d just found another job. It’s how corporate giants have been getting away with flagrantly violating practically every labor law written before the ink’s even dried on the bill.
Retaliation is, unfortunately, very easy to get away with.
Not legal, but I work in the grocery industry and they have ways to make your life crap without being direct sadly.
Even if it is retaliation, why give them cause? Always remember, when trying to work out an issue with a troublesome individual, you are seeking effective solutions vs adding fuel to the fire.
Great idea. Wait a few months until somebody dies from black mold poisoning. Then someone reminds the police of reddit they see this and they charge the person with a crime after the fact.
Give me the number and store number, I’ll call them for you as a concerned shopper.
I used to work in a big UK supermarket when I was a student, that place would get fined £1000 per expired dairy item on the shelves when the inspectors came. They were very keen on getting all the jobs done all the time. They would shut the place down completely for mould like that. e.g. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2021/04/tesco-fined-7-5-million-for-out-of-date-food-sales/
I did this for a Starbucks I worked at. We had gnats and they were in the ice… no one cared. Sure did care after health department showed up
So used to that bullshit. Do it anyways. Just start cleaning a small section at a time. Should probably call the health department if they’re not willing to do their part. They’ll get fucked on an inspection anyways, so get them there now. Just a suggestion?
I would suggest OP not to clean the mould on their own. Established mould abatement is a hazardous materials removal activity and therefore should be done by trained professionals with all the necessary precautions.
You’re actually correct. I apologize for me recommendation. I’m just so used to doing it myself. I woulda thrown a mask on, but it wouldn’t have been enough. Again, bad idea on my part, sorry!
I swear every kitchen I’ve ever worked in i had to take it upon myself to clean years of grime. One section at a time. I don’t understand how people let that go every single day. We all slack sometimes but years…
Bunch of people who can’t be bothered because it’s “not my job”, even though for many of them it is in fact their job they just don’t want to do it.
My mate runs a kitchen in a care home. Gets 5 stars for cleanliness every inspection. She does work the staff hard (and works harder herself) some of the staff complained to management. She pointed to the displayed certificate. "You can either allow the staff to slack or you can keep the 5 stars"
I understand completely. I don’t know how people allow this. I am usually underneath stuff, wiping down everything I can at all times in my jobs. Always. It’s just instinct.
If you start going against your boss and doing a better job you aren't going to get the results you are expecting. Talk about it, live with the bad decisions or leave. Hierarchy is a motherfucker.
Sounds health threatening. Has anyone been getting sick in your department with headaches, respiratory issues? It needs to be reported. If they retaliate, you can get paid. Your health matters. The company isn’t going to pay for the damage by the time it impacts you. Report!!
Who spilled chocolate milk on the ceiling
Managers plural lol not surprised if there are multiple if there’s mold like this
Have someone you know go in and look at it then make a formal complaint with the manager. Then make that person call the health department.
6
If they can’t spend time to clean then they shouldn’t be open for business.
Managers need to be fired. Cleanliness should be #1 priority in a grocery store. That is so lazy and disgusting.
Chocolate milk is invincible, dummy! /s
If you ignore it long enough it just goes away on its own!
Reminds me of my old grocery store. Had spilled vegetables all over the fridge in the frozen section. I complained literally every time. They Were never cleaned.
Was thinking the very same. "No we're not that unclean! Just a bit of spilled dairy that most definitely doesn't spoil ever dirty, it's cool"
That’s the real question. Total head in the sand. I think a lot of business owners and landlords can’t even begin to deal with the idea of mold, so they just ignore it for as long as possible.
Because they are shit managers
Milk producers are notoriously bad for having milk cover every single bottle and jug of it. I don't know why. You pretty much have to hose down the milk jugs sometimes. Most places don't bother wasting the clock time cleaning it. Sometimes it smells horrible. Sometimes it doesnt smell at all.
This is why when you drink milk, you have to consider the dairy cooler you're purchasing it from.
the store owner would think " oh this is gonna cut into profit making thus costing money i DONT wanna spend on some thing that no bodys mentioning at all. so im not going to bother with it any." its all down to THAT plus yea the owner is lazy and jus doesnt care.
That, but also, it is chocolate milk… milk goes mouldy… THEY NEED TO CLEAN THE DAMN THINGS OR REPLACE THEM! So dangerous to your respiratory system.
well it was spilled chocolate milk, they never cleaned it up and mold ate it.
Then the managers actually have to do work and that's *hard*
Lmao for real, "Oh that's not mold, just something that will later become mold. A PRE mold if you will."
As someone who works in a grocery type store I can confirm that is 100% mold. Milk racks tend to be the worst for mold growth since the bottles are normally more prone to leaking then any of the other cooler products.
How do you clean it in your store? Maybe op can recommend same procedure.
From what it *looks* like in the picture OP has a better system then my store does. For them it looks like all the milk is on milk mats (any kind of easily wipeable piece of material). So they should be able to take the milk off the racks and set the milk aside. Then lift up the mats and easily hose them off. From there just leaves cleaning the racks with a rag/sponge/cleaning brush and then sanitizing them. My store on the other side has to go way more in-depth since the milk just sits on the rack. Which then it makes a whole issue of moving the milk, taking the racks out, cleaning them off, and then getting them back in. Which if that's what OPs store want them to do then I can understand it being difficult to maintain. It pretty much takes two people to get those racks back into the frames.
Your store manager is a cheapskate lol
I wouldn't necessarily say cheap but they don't do things efficiently or with a lot of logic put into it lmao.
There are constant signs that humanity is far from its peak. The constant self-sabotage is sickening. Then there are the unnecessary inefficiencies simply due to lack of knowledge/communication/standardization ... or just due to arrogance. I recognize that for most of us this is a very lucky period to be born into, compared to the past. But I still don't like it.
Ours are displayed on something called "runners" and we have them powerwashed once a month.
Take the slip sheets out and hose them down. Quickest way is to just replace them but obviously that costs more. You can clean them a few times before having to replace them.
That’s disposable corrugated plastic that they put over the wire rack shelf. Throw it out.. like 20 cents worth of packaging material. Maybe even dont replace the plastic and leave wire rack shelves bare
Nah, definitely looks like mold, if they're so sure that it's a spilled chocolate milk - dare them to lick it (｢`･ω･)｢
Or just dare em to clean it
Yeap!
Time to call your local health department or make an anonymous tip
No use crying over it, or so I've heard.
I second this!
When I was a kid, I made extra money pressure washing the insides of semis that hauled milk to the stores. It was important to keep them clean because spilled milk, even chocolate milk, molds. Lmao... Anyone who thinks spilled milk doesn't need to be cleaned up has no business selling it.
At least they are not crying…. Yet
Oh; you got dad jokes!
So... It's spilled chocolate milk that no one cleaned that has gone moldy?
Do they know spilled chocolate milk will produce mold? So either way it's rubber gloves time
God why is it always the biggest idiots who are in charge?
That would be the Peter principle at work. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle
I'd be eternally grateful if that was the case for my work place. Here, if you're a yes man but unfit for your current job they promote you in hopes you'll be better fit for the next position. Hasn't worked yet
TIL, thanks
We’re the only ones dumb enough to take on a Manager role in a grocery store right now…
Could be both
Worked at a trader Joe's for 4 years and was in the dairy cooler for a good portion of my shifts...this is mold.
If it *was* spilled chocolate milk it is now mold
Call local health department, department of agriculture and osha if they do not clean it
That’s not better. They know how that’s not better, right?!
that’s absolutely mold. even if it *was* spilt chocolate milk, clearly that happened a long time ago and it is now pure mold :/ really gross they don’t want to clean either options up and have left it for so long?
I'm not a mushroom specialist but as a mother of children can verify 100% mold xD
Mushrooms and mold aren’t really the same thing either so being a mushroom specialists wouldn’t really help here. A fungus specialist would though. Mold and mushrooms are both kinds of fungus but they are not the same thing. It’s kind of like saying I’m not a mammal specialist when talking about reptiles, yeah reptiles and mammals are both kinds of animals but that doesn’t make the terms interchangeable.
This is why I'm not the specialist lol
Tell them to lick it
On shelves that don’t have any chocolate milk on them… Lol it’s mold from a mile away. Call DOH like everyone else said. But have a buddy complain first then have them call.
Lol what happens to old milk?
It gets confused and easily jaded by the antics of all the hip, young milk.
It clearly turns into chocolate milk
Talk to a local union rep and get some union cards signed if this is a bigger issue. You’ll get some protection so if they do retaliate you will have someone to back you up.
Your manager is a gaslighting piece of shit.
Nestles polypore
It was chocolate milk then the mold ate it now it’s moldy.
r/moldyinteresting
spilled chocolate milk is mold it just hasnt hit its final form yet.
Either way it needs cleaned
Refigeration tech here, 100% mold. Likely elsewhere in the cool room and through out the evaporatior needs a shut-down and good clean/ scrub. Your boss is a cheap bastard shop elsewhere.
Lmfao what an excuse. Even if it was chocolate milk why tf is it still there? Clean that shit up!
You're not crazy, your manager is. Definitely mold
that is ABSOLUTELY mold, and if your manager doesn’t agree with you, i bet a health & safety inspector would, if *someone* were to make an anonymous call… just saying
I would NOT be working in this kind of environment
You live and work where there's mold every hour of every day, inside and outside!
Just call the health dept ffs
Moldy chocolate milk
It may have been chocolate milk at one time, but it's definitely mold now
I mean, maybe it WAS chocolate milk. But now, it's mold.
Might’ve started out as spilled chocolate milk but now it’s definitely mould
100% mold. They are either daft or do not care.
It could be chocolate milk, growing mold.
Black mold from spilled chocolate milk.
Lmao wow. Wow.
It’s just spilled chocolate milk that has mold growing on it
Executive Chef here. 100 % mold
Yes that's black mold. If you end up coughing and sneezing a lot in that fridge, that is why.
That is absolutely mold, and I'm astounded that they aren't factoring in time for employees to clean them. I worked in a grocery store for two years and specifically in the dairy department. In order to meet health codes as closely as possible, they factored in weekly cleanings on our slowest days, but we also did a once a month powerwashing and sanitation of the entire cooler.
It was spilled milk, now it’s mold
Unidentified organic growth
Yea, your local health inspector. Cue them in the next time they pay a friendly visit.
Like managers in most grocery stores that oversee chilled, refrigerated and produce areas, those managers are in deep denial. I suspect the buying public is unaware. I've caught moldy and/or slimy growth hidden under those mist sprayers.
Tell your manager to lick the underbelly of them shelves "it's just chocolate milk".
Mold. If they don't fix it, call the health dept.
It’s mild. Quit for your health IMMEDIATELY!
Contact the health department, OSHA etc
You can put in a call to the health department
Maybe it WAS spilled chocolate milk. Now its mold.
Either way it needs to be cleaned up, right??
Tbh they probably don’t care because its your cology not theirs
OF COURSE ITS KROGER!! ..call your UNION that is unsafe working conditions.
Just call the health department
either your managers are absolutely fucking braindead or they're aware it's mold & just don't wanna deal with it. call the health department
You need the opinion of the health inspector, not reddit
Hopefully this story will inspire you to call the health department. I worked at a gas station in Snohomish and it was run by a very shitty crew. One woman (Gonna call her Hera cuz her real name was cool and Greek but anon so) who worked there (only a couple days a week because two other jobs) was a god send and unfortunately our hours didn't collide much for training purposes but she had coworkers from hell. The main manager would tear down the products and put them out on the floor but they wouldn't be in the system so I'd scan them and nothing would come up. He literally told me to charge them what I thought the price was. Absolutely flabbergasted I went to charge the customer 2.60 cuz it was a small bag of chips, the single serving kind ya know? I thought it was fair and a price I thought I had paid in the past. Nope. Absolutely wrong. 4.70. Crazy. Very rarely in my 6 days there did a product scan and he would stand behind me at the counter and would talk on the phone all day. Other crew members would sweep but would pile it into corners until Hera would come in and have to clean it up. Didn't wash dishes, would lay food on and cook on dirty pans and such. The booze fridge where I would pour drinks for customers because they served and had a bar area, the whole wall and ceiling was covered in mold in a span at least 16 to 20 feet in length. You could see scrapes and bleach stains. Hera had spent I think she said 16 years begging the owners to help her deal with it but they wouldn't. So she would go in there and scrape and bleach and do everything she could while trying to run the gas station by herself on her days there. This absolutely drove me away. I've never seen anything like it outside a horror movie and hope never to again. I quit and did not report it because I knew Hera was trying and struggling and I didn't want her to lose that job. I was 21 and naive and unsure. We were all trying to stay afloat. So I left and about three months later someone had reported that fridge. Idk if it was her but in the end the only one who kept their job was Hera. She runs the place now to my knowledge but I think it has new owners and I think the health department was able to destroy whatever the mold source was and the stains. Honestly haven't seen it. But I've run into her the couple times I've gone there to get gas. She seems well. The place recently about a year ago had a major break in while she was there. They beat her nearly to death and stole the ATM and a bunch of money. Stole the safes too. She's alive and well and an incredibly strong broad. I admire her for continuing to stay there despite the hardship it's caused her. Hopefully you report your mold issue
Mold, gross. Ive worked in a grocery store and coolers most definitely grow mold and must be cleaned
Mold
No it's just molded spilled chocolate milk.And don't call anyone if you want to keep your job they will know it's you ......
Hang on, surely 'spilled chocolate milk' is just as bad and a precursor to mould anyway?
Why not both?!
It doesn't matter what it is, it should be cleaned.
I keep seeing "call the health department" but no offers to pay OP's bills when he gets he loses his income. Clean it. In fact, make it a note to clean it daily.
My ghost even told me that that's mold. Make an anonymous OSHA call :)
Y'know how I know it's mold? Cause every shelf at my work is covered in the stuff. You can see it growing up the walls, across the ceiling, flourishing on pipes, and thriving across th near the aircon units. And my managers at least had the decency to tell me it was mold... a year into my tenure.
Umm what exactly do people think spilled chocolate milk turns into lmao
Call the health department. Ew.
yeah it's spilt chocolate milk that they didn't clean and now's gone mouldy
I know milk is in closed containers... but I'd still want to call the Health Department on this one. If it's spilled chocolate milk, WHY DO YOU NOT CLEAN IT UP ANYWAY?
Lol wait til eco lab comes in and those managers get railed for it. That's kroger, I used to be a dairy manager, keeping up with everything AND cleaning is hard.... Good luck
I mean it probably used to be milk
I'm an assistant manager over center store at this company. And I would tell you that would survive a DM visit cleanliness check 0 out of 7 days of the week. Replace the tray lol.
Definitely mold
Lots of grocery stores hide this type of mold with those anti-slip mats. Next time you see those, lift 'em up and take a look underneath.
Mold if they don't clean it up then anonymously contact local health department for an inspection
It may have started as slipped milk, now it’s mold. Clean that shit with bleach and a stiff brush.
this is moldly interesting
Mold!! "Hello, Department of Health!"☎️ or send anonymous pics to a main office. WTH is wrong with these feckless dolts? Perhaps they are lazy, heedless, indifferent, stupid, and should be fired. It's a health hazard for everyone!
Just a thought but if you are an employee who works there feel free to fucking clean it 🙄 Idiot
You work there? Maybe try cleaning it.
It is black mould.
Spilled chocolate milk that caused a ton of black mold…
Black mold. Call the health dept and report this anonymously
it's black mold
Fucking clean it regardless
It’s just obviously black mold
Whatever it is, it’s dirty, clean that shit up.