A lawsuit has been filed against Taco Bell by two customers who say they were seriously burned by a manager at a Dallas store who poured scalding water on them, the suit claims.
The incident occurred when the customers, Brittany Davis, and her niece, who is a minor identified as C.T., continued to circle through the restaurant's drive-through to complain about their order missing items, according to their lawsuit, NBC News reported.
The two continued to be denied the correct order in the drive-through, so they parked and entered the restaurant's dining room, which was closed at the time. An employee unlocked the door for them so they could enter and then locked it behind them, the suit said.
They asked again for their order to be corrected, at which point the Taco Bell workers refused again, with one employee challenging C.T. to a fight, the suit said. At this point, the manager, who had not spoken with them, poured a bucket of hot water on the two, burning C.T.'s face and the chests of both plaintiffs, the suit alleges.
Attempting to flee, they were stopped by the locked door, and the manager began to approach them with a second bucket of water, but they were able to escape the second attack, the suit says. While the pair drove away, workers allegedly stood in the parking lot, laughing and mocking them as they fled the scene.
The customer's lawyer, Ben Crump, says the two were left with permanent skin damage that will leave them with lifelong changes to their appearances, according to the lawsuit filed on July 13, The New York Post reported.
The suit claims that the workers at the Dallas location displayed gross negligence and hiring negligence, resulting in the attack and the plaintiffs being injured.
Taco Bell shared in a statement that it takes the safety of customers and workers seriously and has been in touch with the franchise owner and operator regarding the suit. However, the company declined to comment further due to pending litigation.
The lawsuit names Jane and John Doe, the workers the plaintiffs have not been able to identify; yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell; and North Texas Bells.
The incident, which took place on June 17, has also garnered an investigation from the Dallas Police Department after Davis and her niece were burned.
The department shared that one employee claimed they were assaulted. Still, the plaintiff's attorney, Paul Grinke, declined the allegation saying, "It is hard to imagine a scenario where it would be okay to pour scalding water all over a female minor."
The hot water resulted in Davis losing skin when hospital workers attempted to take her clothes off to treat her. According to the suit, she ended up having deep burns to her chest and stomach, and C.T. had burns to her face, legs, arms, chest, and stomach.
"The burns on her face will cause discoloring and scarring that will forever impact her self-image," the lawsuit stated.
Davis and C.T. were taken to the Parkland Memorial Hospital for additional treatment, but before they made it, Davis reportedly had at least 10 seizures due to an injury she also suffered to her brain function.
The two are seeking more than $1 million in costs and damages from the incident.
"All of this could have been prevented had Taco Bell placed human decency and customer service over a few dollars that it would have cost to get Plaintiffs' order right," the lawsuit alleged.
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