DALLAS — A woman and child are suing Taco Bell after alleging employees poured scalding, boiled water on them -causing severe burns and trauma- as they tried to address a wrongly-made order.
According to one of the retained attorneys, Ben Crump, Brittany Davis and the minor identified as C.T. were customers of the Taco Bell on 11829 Abrams Road in Dallas, via drive-thru and entered the dining room after their order was prepared wrong twice. Crump said the two were locked inside by the employees.
Brittany Davis and C.T. are both Black. The manager was described as a Hispanic female, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit identifies Davis and C.T. as sisters.
The lawsuit additionally claims an employee exited the store and laughed, clapped and taunted the family; Crump and Grinke saying "adding insult to horrific injury" on the incident.
The prominent civil rights attorney and Paul Grinke of McCathern Law said the customers tried to resolve the issue regarding the $30 order when the employees became 'combative' with Davis and C.T. Shortly afterwards, a manager came from behind the counter with a bucket of boiling water and dumped it on both C.T. and Davis. The pair escaped the store before the same manager could pour a second bucket of boiling water.
Their attorneys said that Davis and C.T. both suffered deep, severe burns to 'large portions' of their bodies. In a statement, Crump and Grinke said Davis began to seize while en route to the hospital from the severity of her injuries and was life-flighted to Parkland's ICU burn unit in Dallas. The lawsuit said Davis had at least 10 seizures upon arriving to the hospital.
Video footage of the incident allegedly shows one of the employees brandishing a weapon, the attorneys said in an updated statement.
"Brittany and C.T. barely escaped this nightmare of an establishment with their lives and will have to live with the damage done here forever. There needs to be a deep and thorough investigation as to why these employees were so violent and why employees had a firearm on the property of a Taco Bell,” the statement read.
The lawsuit lists Yum! Brands, Taco Bell Corp., Taco Bell of America, Taco Bell #22872, North Texas Bells, and two employees as the defendants. The charges listed against the defendants include negligence by the individual employees, negligent hiring and failure to control and prevent injuries to their customers, premises liability, and gross negligence, according to the attorneys.
"Our hearts break for these two victims whose lives are forever changed because of the horrific and managing actions by the Taco Bell manager and the larger entities that failed to protect the safety of their customers," Crump and Grinke said in a joint statement. "Not only did [they] suffer physical trauma because of the burns, but they will now live with the psychological trauma that comes with an attack like this."
Crump and Grinke said they are seeking $1,000,000 in actual damages, with the final amount to be decided by a jury.
Taco Bell has been contacted for comment.
