A recent post has been making the rounds in a Facebook group for Walker County that showed an individual getting hair done inside the Fort Oglethorpe IHOP.
Since the post was made Monday, the Health Department has been contacted.
Both of the people, who happened to be employees, involved in the photo were fired, and the restaurant was closed Tuesday for a full clean, according to the social media post.
The original post made to Facebook at 6:30 p.m. April 27 said that the incident represented a lot of code violations.
“Do we really come to ihop in fort Oglethorpe to get our hair done? My eyes are burning from the chemical smell! I didn’t notice till I was already eating,” the post said.
A complaint was made to the Catoosa County Environmental Health Department, according to Logan Boss, the public information officer for the Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Georgia Health District. After the complaint was made, a representative of the Catoosa County Health Department did an onsite investigation.
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The investigation concluded that there were two IHOP employees doing hair extensions in the group dining area. The Health Department’s jurisdiction is within the kitchen or other areas involved in food preparation and storage. Dining areas are not included in that jurisdiction, Boss said.
“We take our food service work very seriously for consumer safety and to prevent any type of foodborne illness, and so we always investigate these types of complaints,” Boss said. “In this situation, however, the problem was not in an area that we have jurisdiction over.”
According to Boss, IHOP managers said they would handle the situation.
The general manager at the Fort Oglethorpe IHOP referred questions to a district manager, who did not respond by deadline.
An update made by the original poster on social media said that the district manager reached out and apologized for the incident.
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Contact Northwest Georgia reporter Ignacio Perez at iperez@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6710.