Attacks on Food Service Workers Continue

Bellevue, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Across the country, attacks on food service workers continue as employees vent their frustration over everything from proof of vaccination to how employees hand people their food.  

In Bellevue, Washington, last week, King County Prosecutors said Michael Dousa, 58, tried to attack an Applebee’s worker after he was asked to show proof of his COVID-19 vaccine. When he couldn’t produce the proof, he was asked to leave, where he began yelling and waiving the cleaver around. When the bartender asked his to leave the premises, police said, Dousa raised the cleaver over his head and went after him.   

The bartender was able to close the door before Dousa could hit him.   

Police arrested Dousa and charged him with felony assault. Dousa already has pending assault in the third degree and assault in the fourth degree charges from an earlier incident in Snohomish County. He is currently in jail on a $75,000 bail.   

In Naples, Fla., a man attacked restaurant employees over “slow” service, police said.   

Michael Reilly, 70, is facing battery charges after witness said he punched a restaurant worker in the mouth. Witnesses said initially, Reilly got into an argument with the employee at Pazzo in Naples. While police were called, Reilly was reported to have gone to the bathroom. When he returned, he allegedly said, “Where is that f*** face?”   

Police reports indicate Reilly began yelling at the employee who then told him to leave the restaurant. In response, Reilly pushed the employee up against a wall and punched him in the mouth.   

Nearby workers separated the two. Reilly admitted to police that he was tired of the employee “running his mouth.”   

The employee suffered a swollen lip, but was not taken to the hospital for treatment.   

And police in Cincinnati are looking for two women they say assaulted a Wendy’s employee over how she handed them their drive-thru order.  

According to the Cincinnati Police Department, the two women went through the drive-thru and ordered food, but were upset by the way the employee handed their order to them.   

Surveillance video shows the women then entering the restaurant and waiting for the employee. After a brief exchange, the women threw the bag of food at the worker then waited at the counter for her. Eventually, the video shows, the women went around behind the counter and attacked the drive thru worker, first throwing a spray bottle at her, then physically assaulting her. The fight then moved to the lobby of the restaurant where the two women continued to attack the worker.   

The worker sustained a fractured leg and a torn ligament, police said.   

“We will not tolerate this type of violence,” the CPD spokesperson said.  

The attacks are just the most recent in a slew of violent incidents against food service workers in the past few months.   

In January, Phoenix police said a customer shot a Wendy’s employee in the head during an argument over barbecue sauce.   

Police said Theotis Polk, 27, asked for extra barbecue sauce at the drive thru window, but was denied by the employee there. Another employee, Brian Dunning, Jr., 16, was standing near the drive-thru employee when Polk pulled out a gun. Polk allegedly shot Dunning in the head.   

Dunning was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and operated on. The bullet grazed his head, officials said. Dunning’s father, Brian Dunning, Sr., said it was not clear what kind of damage the bullet had done yet.   

On Jan. 21, a woman shot a McDonald’s worker in St. Louis County, Mo., over French fries. Police in that incident said the woman got angry about her French fry order and left the building. When the employee went on a cigarette break, the woman, Terika Clay, 30, hit the employee in the head with a gun before opening fire.   

On Jan. 8 in Los Angeles, a man shot and killed a Taco Bell drive thru employee for not taking his counterfeit money.   

Police said the driver of a black sedan came through the drive thru and attempted to use a fake $20 bill to pay for his order. When the 41-year-old employee refused, the driver opened fire on the drive thru window, shooting and killing the employee. Police said the man was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead on the scene.  

And on Dec. 22, police in Belleville, Ill., arrested a woman for opening fire on Taco Bell employees at the drive thru window.   

Witnesses told police that the woman got into an argument with employees about her order at the window. Eventually she pulled a gun and fired into the restaurant, before driving away and firing several shots into the windows of the front of the restaurant.   

Police said one employee was injured by flying glass, but no one was shot.   

Amy Gale, 19, was arrested over the incident and charged with one count of aggravated battery with a firearm and three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm. Her bond was placed at $1 million.   

Assaults against food and other service workers have been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic. The problem became so pronounced the CDC released tips for employers on how to prevent violence against workers that included providing workers with a safe room, and providing workers with training on how to de-escalate situations.