A shocking lawsuit from Dallas, Texas alleges the manager of a Taco Bell (not pictured above) raged on unsatisfied customers by dumping hot water on them.
Brittany Davis claims she and a child identified as C.T. went through a Taco Bell drive-thru 3 times on June 17 in an attempt to get food the employees had left out of their $31 order. When all 3 attempts turned up nothing, the two customers went inside the dining room to try and resolve the issue.
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Court documents state the woman and child talked with employees for 10 minutes, “wondering why the employees could not simply go back and prepare the food that they had paid for”. It’s at this point employees allegedly became “combative” toward them. But according to this lawsuit, it’s only when the manager came out did the situation take a turn for the worse…
Attorneys Paul Grinke and Ben Crump wrote in the filed complaint the restaurant manager “entered the dining room from behind a counter with a bucket of scalding water”. They state the unnamed Taco Bell employee then “violently” poured the water on the two patrons:
“The Taco Bell store manager violently and without warning poured a bucket of boiling water over C.T.’s and Brittany’s heads, shoulders, breasts and legs.”
WTF! That is NOT the right way to live más!
After this incident, it’s alleged that the victims, who are aunt and niece, were “screaming and crying” as they tried to flee, but an employee had “locked the door behind them” when they came in. At this point, the lawsuit claims, the manager was on the way to pour boiling water on them AGAIN:
“Panicking, C.T. and Brittany tried to figure out how to unlock the door so that they could escape. While they were fumbling with the lock, the manager returned with a second bucket of boiling water to burn them yet again. C.T. and Brittany were able to escape the Taco Bell before the manager reached for the second time.”
After this, it’s alleged that an employee laughed and taunted them as they ran. Damn! Seriously deplorable…
The lawsuit states the victims felt as though they were “burning from the inside out”:
“Due to the scalding water that remained in their clothes against their bodies, C.T. and Brittany felt like they were ‘burning from the inside out’.”
Heartbreakingly, the trauma this poor family went through was far from over. As they ran back to their car, family members quickly rushed them to an emergency room. On the way there it’s stated the child removed her clothes to minimize burning. Davis experienced trauma-induced seizures; she had to be sedated, intubated, and flown to Parkland Burn Center.
Needless to say, the two victims suffered some serious injuries from the ordeal:
“[The water caused] excruciating second and third degree burns on their bodies.”
Yes, THIRD DEGREE burns! Water has to be well over 100 degrees in temperature to cause third degree burns at such an alarmingly quick rate! Just awful…
C.T. is reported as having burns to most of her body, and some of the burns allegedly “caused her skin to swell up to the size of softballs”. The poor child, according to her mother, had to remove all the mirrors in her home because she “couldn’t bear to look at herself”. The other victim, Brittany, had “deep burns on her chest and stomach” and suffered at least 10 seizures. These seizures unfortunately have caused “significant damage to her brain function”.
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Gut-wrenching… All of this over an order that could’ve easily just been fixed or refunded! We know fast food workers have to deal with a lot of cranky, often unreasonable customers, but obviously this was not the way to handle a bad day!!
After news of the incident, the Dallas Police Department got involved and opened a police investigation. A police spokesperson told McClatchy News:
“There are two aggravated assault charges and one assault charge being investigated thus far. This remains an ongoing investigation with no arrest at this time.”
The DPD didn’t release names related to these charges, but did confirm that a franchise employee claimed they were assaulted by the manager as well.
Taco Bell released a statement to the outlet, telling them:
“We take the safety and wellbeing of team members and customers seriously. Taco Bell is in contact with the franchise owner and operator of this restaurant on this matter and cannot comment on specifics of pending litigation.”
The lawsuit is allegedly blaming the corporation as well as its employees, as the attorneys wrote in a news release:
“Our hearts break for these two victims whose lives are forever changed because of the horrific and damaging actions by the Taco Bell manager and the larger entities that failed to protect the safety of their customers. … Corporations have a duty to employ quality and stable employees who hold safety as the highest priority.”
The plaintiffs, represented by an adult family member, are seeking more than $1 million in damages for the “physical and psychological trauma” the two victims suffered, with “the final amount to be decided by the jury”. A court date has not yet been scheduled.
Just terrible! We wish Brittany and C.T. healing and hope they get the justice they deserve from this completely life-altering and senseless attack.
You can watch the video the lawyers released for yourself (below), but WARNING, DISTURBING CONTENT:
