Who is Joseph Kolacsky? Calls to fire manager erupt online as Meijer disabled worker controversy intensifies

The boycott of Meijer has intensified as netizens are now demanding that the supermarket chain fire the manager in the viral bodycam video. For the unversed, this month, a one-minute-long clip went viral on social media. In the bodycam footage, a teenage boy named James Denison was arrested from a Meijer store at Seven Hills, Ohio.

The video is from March 7, 2024, and the footage was released this year. The manager accused James of eating food from the store's deli section. He stated that the teenager consumed $110 worth of food in three months without paying for it.

After the clip went viral online, netizens were outraged, as James Denison is reportedly disabled. Internet users called for a boycott and trended hashtags. They also found the identity of the manager.

Joseph Kolacsky, the manager of the store at Seven Hills, was found on LinkedIn. Netizens spread his account, demanding that he be fired. Joseph Kolacsky has deleted his LinkedIn profile. Joseph has not responded to the online backlash at the time of writing.

This is the manager that let him “steal” expiring food that was set to be thrown out for months in order to prosecute the kid once it hit a certain dollar amount. Actual human garbage. His linkdin is active if you want to send him a message. pic.twitter.com/Dp1zuuigiT

— Corium Copper (@CoachKeats) August 20, 2025

Meijer released a statement regarding the viral video

On August 21, 2025, the supermarket chain released an official statement on their Facebook page. They stated that they recognized that the situation could have been "handled differently."

"We know there has been a lot of recent conversation about last year's incident involving a former team member at our Seven Hills, Ohio, store. We take this very seriously and recognize that the situation should have been handled differently," Meijer stated.

The statement continued with Meijer promising that the incident won't happen again. They remarked that they have learnt a "great deal" and this year they added a "new procedure" to make sure such things don't happen.

"Earlier this year, we implemented a new procedure to make sure this doesn't happen again. We've learned a great deal from this experience. We hold ourselves to a higher standard and are committed to making sure our actions reflect how we want to treat each other," the supermarket chain stated.

The post has garnered more than 6,600 reactions and over 7,000 comments. Internet users had a negative reaction in the comments as they called out the chain, saying the statement was "tone deaf" and was made for "damage control."

The GoFundMe fundraiser for James Denison has been taken down

After the clip went viral, Kerry James, a nurse from Tallahassee, Florida, launched the fundraiser for Denison. She promised to help the teenage boy with his legal fees, cost of living, food, and transportation. Kerry requested $25,000 on GoFundMe.

As the clip gained the attention of the internet users, Kerry Campbell quickly raised over $25,000. However, on August 21, 2025, the page was taken down. It is not clear why the fundraiser was deleted. Kerry Campbell has not spoken up about it, and it is unclear what happened to the donated money.

The whereabouts of James Denison are unknown. Netizens are continuing to trend the hashtag #BoycottMeijer. Stay tuned for more updates regarding the viral Meijer controversy.