Arby’s manager accused of giving customer herpes after spitting in food, court records say

Arby’s manager accused of giving customer herpes after spitting in food, court records say ‘I love Arby’s — not anymore,’ Jennica Church said - Bookmark Arby's is being sued by a woman who claims that she developed herpes after a restaurant manager spit in her food. Jennica Church, 38, alleges that Amanda Hendricks, a 38-year-old former manager at an Arby's in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, spat in her food on March 28. Her lawsuit claims that by spitting into the food, Hendricks passed HSV-1 — commonly known as herpes — onto Church, according to the New York Post. “I love Arby’s — not anymore,” Church said in a statement to the Scripps News Group. Police became involved in the situation after another Arby's employee made a report claiming that they witnessed their coworker spitting into a customer's meal. The call gave investigators the justification to pursue a search warrant for the restaurant's surveillance footage. Once that was granted, they reviewed the video from the night Church placed the order. Police say the footage shows Hendricks handling sandwich meat while working a slicer. She allegedly lowers her head toward the meat and saliva can be seen falling from her mouth and into the sandwich. Church recalled that she stopped at the fast food restaurant late in the evening after her bartending shift, and was worried the staff might have been annoyed that she ordered close to their closing time. “It was taking a little bit of time,” Church said of her food order, according to the Post. “I thought they were mad at me because it was about to close.” After police reviewed the video, officers contacted Hendricks for an interview. On the day of the interview, Hendricks said she could not make it to the police station because she did not have transportation. She allegedly referenced the surveillance video reviewed by the police and told one officer that "she was not going to waste my time, yes, she did it," according to a probable cause affidavit. Following that interview, investigators sought to charge her with felony poisoning with intent to injure. On the night Church visited the Arby's, she hadn't just bought food for herself, but for her whole family. Her mother-in-law, Patricia Dollarhite, told KJRH that the family was terrified that they would also contract herpes from the contaminated meal. “My son was sitting at my table, eating breakfast and he wanted a kiss, and he could not get one, so you bet I’m angry,” she said. Church is the only member of her family who has said she suffered an infection from the meal. She claims in her lawsuit that she has developed "painful lesions" and "cold sores" as a result of the herpes infection, according to The Smoking Gun, which reviewed the lawsuit. The civil lawsuit, against Hendricks and Arby’s, alleges that restaurant allowed Hendricks to work despite her "active herpes outbreak with visible lesions,” The Smoking Gun reports. Church now "lives in constant fear" that she will transmit herpes to her husband or their children, the lawsuit continues, per the outlet. There is no cure for herpes, only treatments to manage the symptoms. The Independent has requested comment from Arby's and is seeking comment from Hendricks’ legal representation. [Image text:] PROPERTYROOM