Burger King says it is conducting an internal investigation into blog postings that criticize a Florida farmworker group, allegedly made by a top official using his young daughter's screen name.
The Miami-based fast-food chain said it is also looking into e-mails apparently sent from its own server that were sympathetic to the group.
A newspaper said last week on that the blog postings were reportedly made by Stephen Grover, the No. 2 burger chain's vice president for food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance. He has been a key part in the company's feud with the farmworker group, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, over improving work and wage conditions for tomato pickers.
''Senior management of the company had no knowledge of Grover's postings. These comments were not sanctioned by the company and they do not reflect the opinion of the company,'' Burger King spokeswoman Denise Wilson said in a statement. ``We are conducting an internal investigation, and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.''
The statement was also released following an inquiry into an e-mail sent to an Associated Press reporter in January, apparently from Burger King headquarters, according to an examination of the Internet Protocol address the message was sent from. So-called IP addresses can be used to track messages.
That e-mail criticized the company and expressed sympathy for Florida farmworkers. It also said the chain owned by Burger King Holdings asked suppliers to plan for the possibility that it would buy tomatoes outside of Florida.
The individual who sent the e-mail did not respond when the AP asked for his or her name.
Another pro-farmworker group said it received a message from the same screen name volunteering help.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers wants the fast-food giant to join McDonald's and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands and pay a penny more per pound to tomato growers, who would pass on the money to their workers.
The deal also calls on the companies to work with the coalition to establish a code of conduct for their suppliers.
Burger King has said it has a strong vendor code of conduct that mandates zero tolerance for worker exploitation and abuse and is open to responsible suggestions for improvement. But it says it is not ready to join the deals signed by its competitors.
Last year, Grover raised several objections in interviews, including that the company sees no legal way to pay workers in a completely separate industry.
