An Oklahoma woman and her family have filed a lawsuit against Arby’s after a former manager allegedly spat in her food while knowingly suffering an active herpes outbreak — an incident that has since resulted in felony criminal charges.
Amanda Hendricks, 38, is accused in court documents of spitting on the meat or sandwich components while preparing an order for Jennica Church at the Arby’s drive-through in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, on March 28. Ms. Hendricks was subsequently arrested and booked into the McCurtain County Jail on a charge of poisoning food with intent to injure, a felony.
According to an affidavit cited by local outlets, Broken Bow police obtained surveillance video from the restaurant and concluded Ms. Hendricks had spat into sandwiches prepared for Ms. Church. Investigators said the footage shows Ms. Hendricks handling sandwich meat while working a slicer, allegedly lowering her head toward the meat as saliva falls from her mouth onto the food.
Ms. Church told Tulsa-based station KJRH that she had stopped at the restaurant after a long night of bartending.
“It was taking a little bit of time,” she said. “I thought they were mad at me because it was about to close.”
The two women knew each other and had a minor history, though Ms. Church said it was nothing significant.
The civil complaint, filed June 16 in McCurtain County District Court, alleges that Ms. Hendricks “intentionally and deliberately spit on the meat or sandwich components” while preparing Ms. Church’s order, and that at the time she knew she had Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) and had “an active herpes outbreak with visible lesions.”
Ms. Church ate one sandwich as she pulled out of the parking lot, then brought the remaining food home to her family, including her grandmother-in-law, who was in hospice care. According to the civil complaint obtained by People, she also shared food with her husband, her husband’s father, and their children.
The lawsuit alleges Ms. Church developed symptoms after eating the sandwich, including a lesion or cold sore on her lip, and that she subsequently tested positive for HSV-1. Whether the alleged food contamination caused that diagnosis has not been determined by a court or medical authority. Ms. Church connected the infection to Ms. Hendricks after learning through her daughter that Ms. Hendricks had allegedly been bragging around the small town about spitting in the sandwiches.
The lawsuit further alleges that when the family confronted the restaurant with information about the surveillance footage, staff attempted to cover up the incident and pressured the family to accept free sandwiches as compensation. According to the complaint, Ms. Church’s grandmother-in-law was separately offered $5 as compensation for what the lawsuit describes as “a permanent, incurable viral infection.”
In addition to Ms. Hendricks, the civil suit names Arby’s of Broken Bow, RB ARK Restaurants, LLC, and Flynn Restaurant Group, LP as defendants. The family’s attorney, Will Blocker, condemned the other employees present that night for their silence.
“They let it go all the way out the door, and my client now has a communicable disease,” Mr. Blocker told KJRH. “That has to be a culture deeper than Arby’s in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Maybe it’s Flynn Restaurant Group and all 300 stores they own. I don’t know, but we are going to find out.”
The civil lawsuit further alleges that the restaurant allowed Ms. Hendricks to work despite her active outbreak with visible lesions, and that Ms. Church now “lives in constant fear” that she will transmit the virus to her husband or their children.
The family is seeking compensatory damages, including medical expenses and damages for physical pain and suffering. Arby’s has confirmed Ms. Hendricks is no longer with the company. The restaurant did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the broader allegations. It was not immediately clear whether Ms. Hendricks has retained an attorney. She was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday, according to KXII.
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