“I thought they were mad at me because it was about to close," Jennica Church said of the incident
Credit: McCurtain County Jail
NEED TO KNOW
- A former Arby’s manager faces a felony charge after being accused of spitting onto a customer’s food while knowingly having a visible herpes flare
- Jennica Church filed a lawsuit against the fast food restaurant after developing mouth sores
- Amanda Hendricks was the manager on duty at the time, and was allegedly seen spitting into food before serving it to Church
An Oklahoma woman and her family have filed a lawsuit against Arby’s after a former manager allegedly spat in her food, infecting the customer with oral herpes.
In a civil complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Jennica Church alleged that in late March, she went through the drive-thru line at an Arby’s in Broken Bow after a long night of working to get a meal for herself and her family.
“It was taking a little bit of time,” Church told KJRH in an interview published on Friday, June 19. “I thought they were mad at me because it was about to close.”
Amanda Hendricks, 38, was the manager on duty at the time, and the two women knew each other and had a history, but it was nothing major, she told the outlet.
“Hendricks was responsible for preparing food orders,” the complaint alleges.
“Hendricks intentionally and deliberately spit on the meat or sandwich components while preparing Plaintiff Jennica Church's order,” the lawsuit alleges. “At the time Defendant Hendricks spit on the food, she knew she had Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1), commonly known as oral herpes.”
The lawsuit claims that the former manager “had an active herpes outbreak with visible lesions” when she allegedly spat on the food, and that she knew that the virus could be transmitted through her saliva.
After receiving her order, Church claims that she took the food home to her husband's father and grandmother, the latter “who was on hospice care and in a vulnerable medical condition,” per the complaint.
Church's complaint also says shared the food with her husband and their children.
Soon after, Church said she noticed flare-ups on her mouth that she had never experienced before, and eventually went to see a doctor and tested positive for HSV-1, the lawsuit said.
Church connected her herpes to Hendricks because they live in a small town, and she claimed that Hendricks had been bragging to others about spitting in the food.
Surveillance video from the restaurant shows Hendricks “preparing food, spitting on meat or sandwich components, and placing the contaminated food on the sandwiches,” per the lawsuit.
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When confronted with the information, the lawsuit alleges staff at Arby’s attempted to cover up the truth about the footage, and tried to pressure Church’s family into “accepting free sandwiches as compensation for the incident.”
Church’s grandmother-in-law was offered “the insulting sum of five dollars ($5.00) as compensation for the contamination of food that resulted in a permanent, incurable viral infection," the complaint claims.
The family “has suffered severe emotional distress and anxiety as a result,” and said it has changed the way they can interact with one another.
“I see what it’s doing to my grandchildren, my son, my husband,” Church’s grandmother-in-law told the news station. “I don’t want to kiss my husband. He ate the food! Because he hasn’t had an outbreak, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have it.”
The family’s attorney, Will Blocker, condemned the staff who were present that evening at Arby’s in Broken Bow, claiming they knew what happened and remained silent.
“They let it go all the way out the door and my client now has a communicable disease,” he 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 Church family is suing for compensatory damages, including but not limited to medical expenses and physical pain and suffering.
Hendricks was charged with felony poisoning of food with intent to injure, according to the news outlet, citing an affidavit.
It was not immediately clear if Hendricks is represented by an attorney.
PEOPLE reached out to Arby’s for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Read the full article here
