In a now-viral video, a Toronto student claims that a Tim Hortons employee asked her to “collect” her saliva after she ordered a cup of coffee earlier this month.
The video, posted on TikTok by Anna (@yikesbanana), warns other Toronto residents and students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) not to visit the Tim Hortons branch on the corner of Dundas Street East and Victoria Street.
Since its release, the video has garnered over 600,000 views and over 2,000 comments.
Before her rehearsal on the TMU campus, Anna says she went to Tim Hortons to get a cup of coffee.
“The guy gives me my drink, and then when no one else is in the store, he gives me my drink and then slides a little empty paper cup toward me,” she explained in the video.
@yikesbanana @Tim Hortons, wtf, lol #toronto #timhortons #victoriastreet #tmu ♬ Original sound – Anna
Anna then claims the employee asked her if she was in a rush, to which she replied “yes” but asked him what was wrong. She claims the Tim Hortons employee then asked her, “I'm doing this experiment where I collect people's saliva. Can you spit in this cup for me?”
After Anna told the story in the video, she covered her mouth in disbelief.
“I'm sorry, I find it totally disturbing and I ended up throwing away my coffee because I don't know what he could have put in it,” she said.
After the incident, Anna says she contacted the store's manager, who told her he would review the surveillance footage. Instead of apologizing, the manager asked her to forgive the employee, saying he was only 16 and would have a hard time finding a new job.
“Of course that is not acceptable,” the supervisor can be heard saying in an excerpt from the phone call.
In an update this week, Anna said she reached out to Tim Hortons headquarters and was subsequently contacted by an investigator who asked her to tell her story.
@yikesbanana Reply to @♡（╹◡╹）♡ so here's an update for you, LOL #timhortons #toronto #victoriastreet #tmu @Tim Hortons ♬ Original sound – Anna
Although the investigator allegedly acknowledged that there was a transcript of a conversation between the supervisor and the employee following Anna's initial report, she stated that the employee's story did not match hers.
According to the video, the employee told the supervisor that Anna had personally asked for a plastic cup and made “a lot of derogatory comments” about him – a claim that Anna strongly denies.
The student further urged others who had similar experiences in the same location to contact Tim Hortons headquarters.
blogTO asked Tim Hortons for an update on the status of the investigation.