UPS fired a driver after video footage emerged of him spitting on a package.
Or at least that’s what it looked like to Ann Patton, the homeowner who caught the driver on camera. Patton, who lives in Ocala, Florida, reviewed the footage after the UPS driver stopped by her home and saw what she believed to be a petty attempt at revenge.
According to Patton, who spoke with TMZ, UPS was scheduled to come by her house for a pickup. She never received a notification that the driver was on his way, so when he arrived, the package intended for pickup was nowhere to be found.
The security footage shows the driver perusing the packages on Patton’s stoop for the item he was sent to retrieve. He examines the label on one package and, upon realizing it’s not the one he was sent to pick up, returns it to her porch.
Right before he sets it down, he leans in and does something. He could have exhaled heavily or perhaps sneezed. Or, he could have vindictively spat on Patton’s package. It’s hard to tell from the video, but Patton was convinced of the latter when she reviewed the footage.
Patton phoned UPS and demanded that they fire the driver. After all, we are in the midst of a global pandemic in which respiratory fluids from another person can be life-threatening.
UPS complied, even though the company isn’t sure Patton saw what she thought she did in the footage. According to TMZ, the company only fired the driver, a temporary holiday hire, out of “an abundance of caution.” In the eyes of UPS, it isn’t clear that he was spitting on the package.
In fact, UPS believed the driver was following company protocol. According to TMZ, the company feels the driver mistook the package for the one he was there to pick up and was blowing debris off the label so he could place a proper label on top. When he realized it was the incorrect package, he likely returned it to the porch and left.
Either way, the driver lost his job—in the midst of a pandemic—over the matter. UPS has repeatedly apologized to the Pattons, but the family says it has not replaced the package they believe was contaminated. UPS has requested a copy of the full, unedited video before offering any refunds or replacements. Thus far, the Pattons have not delivered the footage, so UPS has not offered compensation.
The Daily Dot has reached out to UPS.
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H/T TMZ