Taco Bell manager pours scalding water on Texans complaining about order, lawsuit says

A woman and a child who disputed a $31 order at a Taco Bell in Texas had scalding water poured on them by the store manager, according to a lawsuit filed by the family.

The incident also triggered a police investigation, authorities said.

The two customers had gone through a Dallas drive-thru three different times in an attempt to get their missing food before heading inside the restaurant on June 17, according to the lawsuit.

With a receipt and bag of food in hand, Brittany Davis and a minor identified as C.T. were let inside the dining room, which was closed, as the employee “locked the door behind them,” the lawsuit states.

Davis and the child are aunt and niece, according to NBC.

They talked with Taco Bell workers for nearly 10 minutes “wondering why the employees could not simply go back and prepare the food that they had paid for,” according to the lawsuit filed July 17 in Dallas County District Court. “The employees refused to do so and became combative.”

That’s when they say a manager entered the dining room from behind the counter with a bucket of scalding water, the lawsuit states.

“The Taco Bell store manager violently and without warning poured a bucket of boiling water over C.T.’s and Brittany’s heads, shoulders, breasts and legs, causing excruciating second and third degree burns on their bodies,” attorneys Paul Grinke and Ben Crump said in the complaint.

“Due to the scalding water that remained in their clothes against their bodies, C.T. and Brittany felt like they were ‘burning from the inside out,’” the attorneys said. “The store they believed would be a place of service and safety quickly turned into a place of horrors.”

Taco Bell told McClatchy News “we take the safety and wellbeing of team members and customers seriously.”

“Taco Bell is in contact with the franchise owner and operator of this restaurant on this matter and cannot comment on specifics of pending litigation,” a company spokesperson said.

A Dallas Police Department public information officer told McClatchy that authorities are investigating the incident.

“Dallas police received a report that an employee of a business was assaulted by a customer over a dispute regarding a food order,” the spokesperson said. “In addition, officers received a report of a customer and a juvenile being burned by hot water by an employee of the business.

“There are two aggravated assault charges and one assault charge being investigated thus far,” he continued. “This remains an ongoing investigation with no arrest at this time.”

Police did not say who might be facing charges in the case.

NBC reported that police “said a Taco Bell employee also claimed to have been assaulted. Grinke denied the allegation.”

‘Escape the Taco Bell’

After the customers were hit with hot water, they were screaming and crying as they tried running out of the Taco Bell, the lawsuit states. But the door was locked.

“Panicking, C.T. and Brittany tried to figure out how to unlock the door so that they could escape,” their legal team said. “While they were fumbling with the lock, the manager returned with second bucket of boiling water to burn them yet again. C.T. and Brittany were able to escape the Taco Bell before the manager reached for the second time.”

They ran to their car, the lawsuit states, as an employee laughed and taunted the family.

Family members who were waiting in the vehicle rushed the two to an emergency room, according to the complaint. On the way there, they say C.T. took off her clothes to minimize burning as Davis experienced trauma-induced seizures.

‘Deep burns’

Davis was sedated, intubated and flown to the Parkland Burn Center in Dallas, and C.T. was driven there, their attorneys said.

Davis has “significant damage to her brain function” and some memory loss after having at least 10 seizures. She also has “deep burns on her chest and stomach,” the lawsuit says.

C.T. has burns to much of her body, the lawsuit states, and some of the burns “caused her skin to bubble the size of softballs.” Her mom, Kira, had to remove mirrors from the walls in their home because she can’t bear seeing her own face.

‘Life-altering actions’

“Our hearts break for these two victims whose lives are forever changed because of the horrific and damaging actions by the Taco Bell manager and the larger entities that failed to protect the safety of their customers,” Grinke and Crump wrote in a news release. “Not only did Brittany and C.T. suffer physical trauma because of the burns, but they will now live with the psychological trauma that comes with an attack like this. Corporations have a duty to employ quality and stable employees who hold safety as the highest priority.”

The plaintiffs — Davis and C.T., who is being represented by her mother — seek more than $1 million in damages “with the final amount to be decided by the jury.”

“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 attorneys said. “C.T. and Brittany now bring these claims to seek justice for their injuries and to punish Defendants for their life-altering actions.”

John Deere worker was dubbed ‘the angry Black man’ and racially harassed, lawsuit says

Chick-fil-A fired and sexually harassed transgender worker, Georgia lawsuit says

Walmart worker ‘violently’ pushed carts into woman, causing brain injury, lawsuit says

‘Blackout Challenge’ killed their daughters, parents say in lawsuit against TikTok