McDonald’s worker ‘lied about having coronavirus to get out of work’
An 18-year-old McDonald’s worker is facing jail time after she allegedly faked a doctor’s note claiming she had tested positive for coronavirus in order to get out of work.
The teenager has been charged on four counts after a McDonald’s in Hamilton, Canada closed immediately after they received a letter from the employee on March 19th that contained fake medical information detailing that the woman had been diagnosed with the disease.
The employee in question had worked the previous day alongside the rest of her colleagues and all staff members were sent home to self-isolate while the restaurant was sanitized.
‘She just didn’t want to go to work,’ Hamilton police Constable Lorraine Edwards said.
‘[With] the magnitude of what’s happening in the world today, COVID-19 and the seriousness of what we’re all having to deal with … this particular incident definitely needed to have police attention.’
Read the latest updates: Coronavirus news live.
It’s unclear how many employees were affected but the cost of closing for several days comes as an untimely blow for the restaurant, which has since re-opened as take-out only.
On Thursday, Hamilton police charged the woman with mischief over $5,000, fraud under $5,000, using a forged document and making a forged document.
The woman has been released and has a court date on May 18th.
Canada introduced social distancing measures a fortnight ago, despite recording far fewer cases than neighbours America.
At the time of writing, there have been 6.228 positive cases of covid-19 in Canada, with 63 deaths.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Donald Trump says the US will not pay for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s security in America