Cold Stone Creamery Employees Quit En Masse After Fellow Worker Loses 3 Fingers on the Job The employee was cleaning an ice cream machine when the accident occurred.

By Sam Silverman

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Photo by Chris Weeks/WireImage for Coldstone Creamery (DUPLICATE ACCOUNT)/Getty Images

An Oregon Cold Stone Creamery employee sparked a mass outcry after losing three fingers on the job.

Jordyn Martin, 21, was cleaning an ice cream machine at a location in Corvallis earlier this month when her hand and the towel she was using were pulled into the machine's blades by the rotors, The Corvallis Gazette-Times reported. The incident amputated three of Martin's fingers on her dominant hand and the fallen phalanges were too mangled to be reattached with surgery, according to a GoFundMe for Martin's recovery.

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Following the accident, several employees quit due to unsafe working conditions and a lack of compassion from management, KOIN 6 News reported.

According to former manager Abigail Thomas, who has since quit, she said the team didn't receive proper safety training, and she said her employers were more concerned with getting back to business than Martin's recovery.

"They didn't even ask if she was OK first," Thomas recalled to KOIN 6 News after telling higher management about the accident. Emily Kilpatrick, a former employee who retrieved Martin's fingers from the machine, said the machine is still in use after sanitizing it.

According to Oregon OSHA spokesperson Aaron Corvin, there is an active investigation into the accident, per KOIN 6.

The Vice President of Public Relations for Cold Stone Creamery's parent company Kahala Brands said in a statement they are "aware of the unfortunate accident" and "investigating the matter further."

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Martin has since hired legal counsel and has filed a workers' compensation claim in response to the injury.

Her GoFundMe titled "In memory of Jordyn's fingers please lend a hand" has raised over $7,500 thus far.

Sam Silverman

Content Strategy Editor

Sam Silverman is a content strategy editor at Entrepreneur Media. She specializes in search engine optimization (SEO), and her work can be found in The US Sun, Nicki Swift, In Touch Weekly, Life & Style and Health. She writes for our news team with a focus on investigating scandals. Her coverage and expertise span from business news, entrepreneurship, technology, and true crime, to the latest in entertainment and TV news. Sam is a graduate of Lehigh University and currently resides in NYC. 

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