The INSIDER Summary:

Twitter user @phuckyounick, a former McDonald's employee, tweeted a series of photos showing what he claims is the kitchen of the Louisiana restaurant where he used to work.

The photos appear to show a dirty tray from the restaurant's ice cream machine, the grease trap, the floor under the grill, and frozen food.

The former employee says he was fired after posting the photos, but that he doesn't regret posting them because he wanted people to see the unsanitary conditions.



A former McDonald's employee recently tweeted a series of photos showing what he claims is the kitchen of the Louisiana location where he used to work — and claims he was fired as a result.

The former employee — who requested to be identified only by his first name, Nick — told INSIDER that the photos were taken at a McDonald's in LaPlace, Louisiana, where he worked from March until July 2017.

Nick said he took the first photo after one of the chain's managers asked him to clean out the ice cream machine. That picture quickly went viral, with nearly 15,000 retweets.

After tweeting the photo of the tray on July 14, Nick said he received numerous responses from people claiming that the tray he had photographed was from the kitchen's grease trap and not the ice cream machine. He says that's what prompted him to post photos of the side of the ice cream machine (showing the hole the tray came out of), as well as the grease trap.

On July 17, Nick tweeted two more photos, which he claims show the floor underneath the grill and the chain's food while it's still frozen.

Nick said he was called into his manager's office days later, and that he was let go after she asked to see the photos on Twitter. Nick told INSIDER his manager said, "You know you're fired, right?".

He said he was expecting to be fired after he tweeted the photos — he even lined up another job — but that he posted them anyway because he felt it was important to for people to see them and learn about the miserable working conditions. "I wouldn't feed this to my dog. It's just disgusting," he told us.

The McDonald's where Nick says he worked, in LaPlace, Louisiana. McDonald's at 1616 West Airline Hwy / Facebook

John Valluzzo, the president of Valluzzo Companies, which operates 31 franchised McDonald's locations in Louisiana and Mississippi, issued this statement in response to Nick's claims:

"Our primary goal is to operate a clean and safe restaurant. We regularly conduct in-person and online employee training sessions as well as internal inspections to ensure crew members are following safe food practices. In addition, we have a long history of passing regular health department inspections."

After his termination, Nick said he met with two "higher ups" at the company at a Dunkin' Donuts next to the McDonald's where he worked, where he says he was told he was slandering the McDonald's brand. McDonald's did not specifically respond to our questions about this meeting.

"I know what I did was not illegal and I don't feel bad or remorseful about it... I would want somebody at another fast food chain to do the same thing," Nick said.