Panera manager knocks out employee in front of customers

A video allegedly shows a male Panera employee manager throwing a hard, knockout punch at a female employee in front of a customer, who passed along the video anonymously to Gawker.

In the video, the female employee is reportedly quitting her job. She is yelling at one manager, throwing chips on the floor, and later, a manager comes out and punches her violently.

The altercation occurred around 12:30 - likely a peak time for the restaurant. It reportedly happened at one of Panera's newest Manhattan locations, on 23rd Street and Park Avenue. 

The tipster who sent the video to Gawker explains it best:

"We walked in, in the middle of her quitting her job mid shift. She was yelling at a different manager than the one who hit her and was throwing some bags of chips on the ground, threatening to turn up in this bitch, etc. Really nothing I haven't seen before or wouldn't expect from someone who has to work at a f***ng Panera all day.

Then out of nowhere white shirt manager approaches her and immediately gets physical with her, keep in mind she's about 5'2 at most and he was bigger than me... He legit threw her down a flight of stairs and out the front door for really no reason, she runs around to the other entrance to retaliate and that's where the video starts. You might wanna say she hit him first, but really he had FULL CONTROL over her the entire time, was throwing her around, I think she gets one slap in that was louder than it was painful, then he half punches her once, she spins, and then he REALLY F***ING PUNCHES her. You can even hear me and my friend yell DON'T HIT HER just before it... I checked on her for a while after the cops left, she seemed ok, she kept saying he really got her in the ear mostly which I know stings like a b****. She was bleeding a little, and had cuts on her hands but she seemed ok after the adrenaline wore off."

You can see it below:

According to a statement released to Gawker, Panera is investigating the situation and has terminated the two involved. "There were reports of a physical altercation between two associates at our Park Avenue South bakery-cafe," the statement reads. "We have a zero tolerance policy for violence and worked swiftly with authorities to investigate. The associates who were determined to be involved no longer work for Panera."

This is not the first time we've seen a manager flip out in front of customers. We've seen Starbucks and McDonald's managers have meltdowns, too.

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