Chili’s hostess reportedly attacked after refusing to seat large group due to coronavirus rules

A teenage restaurant hostess was attacked by about a dozen women in Louisiana after refusing to let them sit together because of the company’s coronavirus policies, she told local news outlets Tuesday.

Kelsy Wallace, 17, was working at Chili’s in Baton Rouge on Saturday afternoon when the group asked to be seated at a single table, according to WBRZ-TV. That’s when the teen told them she could only have up to six guests at a table to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a company-wide dining rule that was met with outrage, she said.

An argument ensued and some of the women became increasingly irate, with one of them resorting to violence, Wallace recalled.

“She pushed me,” the hostess told WBRZ. “And when she pushed me, all I knew was to push her back. I reacted. That’s when her and her daughters, they all came. And they’re grown women.

“So I’m standing there, they’re on me, beating me. I’m standing there trying to hit them, trying to get all of them off me. And the lady, she takes a wet floor sign and slams it in my eye. And I had blood gushing everywhere.”

The assailants eventually let her go and ran off to their separate cars, according to the station.

Wallace was taken to the hospital for treatment and received five stitches above her eye, she said.

Baton Rouge police were called to the scene during the attack, but the women had already fled. Investigators are now reviewing surveillance footage to try to identify the suspects.

Wallace said she was just trying to do her job and avoid getting in trouble with her managers.

“I couldn’t believe that. I couldn’t believe I’m trying to work and this happened to me,” she told WBRZ.

The teen had been working at Chili’s since June to save money for college, but she said she doesn’t plan to return to the job.

Chili’s released a statement saying the company was “disappointed by the incident” and was cooperating with the investigation.