Arby’s Customer Suffers Burns After Being Doused With Hot Grease By Angry Employee

An Arby’s employee in Hueytown, Alabama was arrested on Saturday after she threw hot grease at a customer at the drive-thru due to an unclear dispute between the two, the attack causing second-degree burns on the fast-food patron.

Shea Peoples, a 50-year-old woman working at the Arby’s, allegedly hurled the hot grease at the customer while she was working the drive-thru window of the establishment. She was charged with first-degree assault for the crime, and the woman will reportedly sue both Peoples and Arby’s in a separate civil suit, according to the New York Daily News.

Many people and individuals in the town have expressed shock and disappointment at the injuries inflicted on the woman, who has been identified as Jameria Hairston. The victim is currently recuperating in a hospital due to the second-degree burns she received from the grease, AL.com reported.

“We’re shocked by the situation,” Atty. Ryan Canon said. “Certainly, the conduct was very outrageous. We want to bring those responsible to justice.”

Police Chief Mike Yarbrough said that an investigation into the incident has shown that the two were involved in a dispute when the incident occurred, but neither Peoples nor Hairston knew each other prior to the incident occurring.

Canon believes that Arby’s itself is responsible for the incident due to prior negligence in training their employees which has led to similar incidents done to other customers before the grease incident.

“We’ve had other people that have called and had the same issues, the same complaints, though obviously not the same actions,” Canon said. “We have concerns about Arby’s policies of how they handle their employees and how they deal with them and the situations they’re putting them in.”

Arby’s, who is also being sued in the Hairston civil case, has released a statement disavowing Peoples and reassuring their cooperation in the investigation.

“The actions of the former employee in Hueytown were reprehensible. We immediately terminated the offender, and we are cooperating with the local authorities in their investigation. Our heart goes out to the guest, and we are working to help support their recovery,” they said.