Fla. Woman Fired Over SpongeBob Balloon

Sat Dec 11,12:53 PM ET

Top Stories - AP

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - A Burger King employee was fired after she refused to return a 10-foot-tall SpongeBob Squarepants balloon that she sold for $1,025 in an Internet auction.

Viney Richards, 36, said a manager gave her the 50-pound balloon after it was taken down from the restaurant's roof.

But when she asked permission to be photographed by The Tampa Tribune, which was writing a story about the balloon's listing on the Internet auction house eBay, she was told to stop talking to the media and return the balloon.

"I really like my job at Burger King," Richards said. "But I just couldn't give back the SpongeBob."

She said she was fired from her $6.15-an-hour job on Wednesday.

The balloon was one of several listed on eBay. Dozens of the balloons have been stolen from the roofs of Burger Kings from Florida to Utah since the release of "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie," authorities said.

I want one!!! I'd love to put that on my roof :lol:

Theres one in Pomona. I'm shocked it hasn't been stolen yet.

Dozens of those balloons were stolen and sold on EBAY. Every single person selling them on EBAY claimed they didn't steal them. :rolleyes:

At least she has the money from selling the darn thing to tide her over until she finds another job...

At least she has the money from selling the darn thing to tide her over until she finds another job...

Yeah, because we all know, those high-paying jobs are hard to come by these days. :lol:

Yeah, because we all know, those high-paying jobs are hard to come by these days. :lol:
??? At least she had a job, and it wasn't like she'd stolen the balloon. Ain't no shame in a job well done...no matter how much it pays or if others are 'too good' to do it.

??? At least she had a job, and it wasn't like she'd stolen the balloon. Ain't no shame in a job well done...no matter how much it pays or if others are 'too good' to do it.


Evidentally something was up if the "manager" asked her to stop talking to the media. Maybe he wasn't suppose to give it to her??

I don't know what people see in that ugly character :hammer:

Evidentally something was up if the "manager" asked her to stop talking to the media. Maybe he wasn't suppose to give it to her??
Yeah, he probably wasn't. What does that have to do with B.O. making it sound like something's wrong with this woman because she worked at Burger King for less than stellar wages? :confused:

I want to steal one too... it'll go great with my bedset, my pjs and underwear set :p :lol:

Yeah, he probably wasn't. What does that have to do with B.O. making it sound like something's wrong with this woman because she worked at Burger King for less than stellar wages? :confused:

I wasn't implying that there was anything wrong with her. Quite the contrary. She made more in, what, a couple of days, on E-bay than she'd make in a month at that job. I'd say it was a good trade-off, and if her boss wanted her to keep quiet about their shady transaction, he should have doubled her pay. Now, she's got some time to look for another job, thanks to the money she made on E-bay. I'd call her a shrewd businesswoman.