A Hamilton woman has been charged with multiple offences including mischief over $5,000 for allegedly faking a diagnosis of COVID-19 to get out of working at a McDonald’s, prompting the outlet to shut down for a deep clean and send every employee home to self-isolate.
Hamilton police say that on March 19, an 18-year-old female employee of a McDonald’s on Rymal Road presented a fake doctor’s note to her supervisor, indicating she had tested positive for COVID-19.
The supervisor immediately shut the store, contacted Hamilton Public Health, and sent an untold number of employees home on orders that they self-isolate for 14 days.
“They did all the right things,” Const. Lorraine Edwards told CP24.
On March 23, Hamilton Public Health called police after discerning that the doctor’s note was fake and they had no confirmed COVID-19 patient with the suspect’s name.
“The restaurant remained closed for several days while professional cleaning services worked to sanitize the store,” Hamilton police said Friday. “There has been a significant impact on the restaurant, local customers and employees which instigated the need for police involvement.”
Edwards said the situation would not normally warrant their involvement but given the current climate, they had to take action.
“It comes back to making sure that our community understands the severity of making this type of a false claim,” she said.
On Thursday, police arrested the woman.
She was charged with mischief over $5,000, fraud under $5,000, making a forged document and using a forged document.
She was released on an undertaking, with her next court appearance scheduled for May 18.
