A former Wendy’s manager has been fired and arrested after allegedly tying a neurodivergent employee to a grill workstation using plastic bin bags at a restaurant in Tennessee.
Michiko Burton, 19, is accused of restraining the employee at the Wendy’s restaurant in Murfreesboro after allegedly saying she needed him to “stay put” and did not want to “babysit” him.
When questioned by police, Burton reportedly said the incident had been intended as a joke and was connected to a TikTok trend.
Police initially interviewed the employee, who told officers he had not been injured and was not upset by what happened, and the investigation was subsequently closed.
However, officers later reopened the case following concerns raised by the employee’s family.
Burton was subsequently arrested and booked into the Rutherford County Adult Detention Centre on a $2,000 bond.
She is due to appear in court on October 22.
Isaac Kimes, an attorney representing the employee’s family, described the incident as traumatic and said it was “absolutely inappropriate, unsafe, and dehumanising to tie an employee to a grill.”
The employee was reportedly working at the restaurant when he was restrained at the workstation.
Wendy’s confirmed Burton was dismissed following the incident.
The company said the alleged behaviour was inconsistent with its values and the standards expected in its restaurants.
The case has raised conce
