Jack in the Box worker shoots at customer’s car in fight over curly fries, lawsuit says

A man was working to restore power in Texas after a deadly freeze hit the state when his pregnant wife and 6-year-old daughter flew in to visit from Florida.

Anthony Ramos went to pick them up from a Houston airport on March 3, 2021, then they decided to grab a quick meal at a nearby Jack in the Box restaurant.

There, the Miami-area family says a worker shot at their car in an argument over missing curly fries. Now they are suing Jack in the Box, franchise A3H Foods and the worker who was charged in the shooting.

In the lawsuit filed Sept. 13 in Harris County, attorney Randall Kallinen says Ramos ordered a combo and paid $12.99 for his order.

After receiving his food, Ramos checked the bag and noticed he was missing the curly fries, according to the lawsuit. He asked the worker for the fries, but she refused to get them.

When Ramos requested to talk with a manager, Kallinen said the worker began swearing and yelling at the family.

They began arguing, and the worker threw ketchup and ice into the car, according to the complaint.

That’s when the worker pulled out a gun, leading the man to pull forward from the drive-thru window, the lawsuit said. The worker shot at the car as his child and pregnant wife were inside, the suit says.

Shaken, they got away and called 911, according to the lawsuit.

A Jack in the Box spokesperson told McClatchy News it does not comment on “ongoing legal matters,” and an employee with A3H Foods said the franchisee does not have a statement.

McClatchy News could not reach the worker for comment, but a Houston police report provided by Kallinen shows she was arrested and charged following the incident. She later pleaded guilty to deadly conduct, according to court records.

A man she had called to come pick up the gun from her was also arrested at the scene and charged with carrying a weapon, according to the lawsuit.

No injuries were reported, police said.

The family returned home to Florida, and Ramos quit his contracted job based in Houston, according to the lawsuit.

The family argues Jack in the Box and A3H Foods were negligent in “employing an incompetent (employee) who had a criminal background, not conducting proper background checks and not adequately training and supervising her considering the nature of the business that they own.” The lawsuit also says the worker was negligent when putting “the safety of customers of the restaurant in jeopardy.”

“Jack-In-The-Box needs to do background check on employees so as not to expose their customers to someone who would attempt to kill them,” Kallinen said in a news release. “These rage cases are getting out of hand in Houston.”

They seek a jury trial and relief between $250,000 and $1 million to cover mental pain, suffering, medical bills, lost wages and legal fees.

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