Woman sues Myrtle Beach Burger King after ‘hostile’ situation over facemasks: Lawsuit
A woman is suing Burger King after she said she and her children were verbally attacked for complaining to a manager about an employee not wearing a mask.
Shatarra Parker filed the lawsuit in Horry County court on behalf of herself and her two minor children, identified in as J.M. and Y.P. Parker filed the lawsuit against Kingdom Restaurants and five unnamed Burger King employees.
The five other defendants are identified only as John Doe and Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3, and Jane Doe 4.
The Burger King is located in Myrtle Beach on Coastal Grand Circle. Parker lives in Horry County.
Jane Doe 1 is a manager of the Burger King in question.
Jane Doe 2, 3, 4, and John Doe are Burger King employees working beneath Jane Doe 1.
The lawsuit states that the incident occurred on June 14, 2019. When contacted and asked whether the date was a mistake, Daniel Hunnicutt, a Conway attorney who represents Parker and her children, stated that the date listed on the lawsuit was a typo. The correct date is June 14, 2021, Hunnicutt said.
Parker took her children to the Burger King. Parker noticed that one of the employees, identified in the lawsuit at Jane Doe 2, was not wearing a face mask. Parker complained to the manager about the employee not wearing a mask.
The complaint caused the five other employees to become “very hostile” toward Parker in front of her children, the lawsuit alleges. The five Burger King employees went on to “threaten, harass, belittle, and make fun of” Parker and her children.
They called her a “fat (expletive)” and made other derogatory comments about her weight. They then went on to threaten Parker and her children, telling them the children they would “find them” and “hurt them,” according to the lawsuit.
One of the employees slammed the bag of food down on the counter, getting food on Parker and her kids, the suit states.
The lawsuit alleges that Parker suffered long-term damage from the “assault,” including emotional distress, fear, anxiety and loss of sleep.
The lawsuit claims that the five Burger King employees “intentionally inflicted severe emotional distress or were certain or substantially certain such distress would result from their actions” toward Parker and her children.
The lawsuit states that Kingdom Restaurants, LLC, which operates Burger King restaurants, is responsible for the actions of its employees.
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 8:09 AM.
