A Connecticut man demanded to know who made a smoothie that he said caused his son to have a severe allergic reaction to peanuts.
A cellphone camera recorded a confrontation between a father and a worker at a Robeks store in Connecticut on Saturday.
James Iannazzo was fired from his job as a financial adviser for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management after he was charged with a hate crime.
The video of Mr. Iannazzo's harangue was shared on a Facebook group page for local mothers in an affluent suburb about 55 miles northeast of Manhattan.
You don't know who made it? In the video, Mr. Iannazzo swore at the shop's young employees, calling them ignorant high school kids.
Four people were working at the time, so the employees didn't know who made the smoothie.
One of the employees told Mr. Iannazzo that he had no place to yell at them. The employees said that he could contact the corporate offices of Robeks.
The police department said that Mr. Iannazzo made comments about an employee's immigration status. The video shows a smoothie thrown by Mr. Iannazzo hitting one of the employees.
The police said he was charged with intimidation based on bigotry or bias.
Frank J. Riccio II, a lawyer for Mr. Iannazzo, said in a statement on Sunday that his client told the store workers that the smoothie should not contain peanuts and that the receipt for his son's drink order specified that it should.
He said that Mr. Iannazzo's son had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Mr. Riccio said that Mr. Iannazzo acted out of anger and fear when faced with a dire situation. He regrets his actions during a moment of extreme emotional stress and is not a racist individual.
A young person was having an allergic reaction at Mr. Iannazzo's home on Saturday. The police did not say if the smoothie caused the allergic reaction that Mr. Iannazzo had made. On Monday, there was no additional information on the son's condition.
The police said that employees reported that Iannazzo never told them about the peanut allergy, but only requested that there be no peanut butter in his drink.
A spokesman for Bank of America confirmed in an email on Sunday that Mr. Iannazzo no longer worked there.
Bill Halldin said that the company does not tolerate behavior like that. We immediately looked into it and took action. The individual is no longer employed at the firm.
The wealth management office of Mr. Iannazzo was flooded with negative reviews after his rant.
The authorities said that Mr. Iannazzo turned himself in to the police on Saturday. He is due to appear in a Connecticut court on February 7.
Barbara Caruso is a spokeswoman for Robeks.
The company and its franchisees have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior, and we are thankful that the team members were not hurt. The judicial system and law enforcement have taken swift action against this behavior.
Ms. Caruso said that the smoothie chain takes any concerns about order accuracy seriously.
She said that the allergy notice is posted in-store, on printed menus and is available online to provide full ingredient transparency for guests. We will be looking into the concerns surrounding this order.
The manager of the independently owned store in Fairfield was not available for comment on Monday.
The police charged Mr. Iannazzo after they took swift action, according to the chief elected official.
This is an extremely unfortunate situation. I am happy everyone is okay and safe.
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