No Heat, No Water, No Job. Fired Papa John's Employee Turns To TikTok To Reveal Poor Working Conditions

In a now-viral TikTok posted on Monday, a former Papa John's employee took his sister, Jade, on a video tour of his Colorado Springs store. The video shows a space heater attempting to warm the store's heating system and sinks that do not deliver water. Her brother, who guides her through the various things in the Papa John's kitchen that he says are not working, says that he was heading home because he refused to make pizzas if he could not wash his hands. Jade posted the video that night, receiving more than 228,000 views in three days.

Papa John's fired the employee for refusing to work, says the employee. However, the franchise owner disputes this, saying that he was not fired; he quit by walking off the job.

"It's zero degrees outside," the employee said in the video. "Our water hasn't been working all day. Literally, haven't been able to wash my hands while making pizza. So I clocked out. I don't want to be like making other people's food without being sanitary."

Throughout the video, the employee takes his sister through the store's malfunctioning kitchen. He tells her that his boss attached a small space heater to the store's full-size water heater in an attempt to unfreeze the tank, turning the camera on a small room heater that is pointed at the tank. Next, he walks to the sinks, which, also due to the heat, could not produce water. Without the ability to wash his hands, the employee decided to leave his shift.

In a statement to TMZ, Papa John's claims that cold weather froze the water lines. "The restaurant was immediately closed in order to have repairs made," they said.

Jade refutes their account. Over the next two days, Jade, who goes by @mommarhodey continued to update followers on the situation. In one video, she accuses Papa John's of lying to TMZ. She says, "Tell me, how did he work four hours with no water but still managed to leave before his shift ended. Honestly, if you want to believe the franchise, you're dumb. I guess this is the first time a franchise has ever lied." In a later video, she says that she and her brother seek legal representation over his "wrongful termination."