NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
A former Arby\u2019s manager faces a felony charge after being accused of spitting onto a customer\u2019s food while knowingly having a visible herpes flare<\/p>\n
Jennica Church filed a lawsuit against the fast food restaurant after developing mouth sores<\/p>\n
Amanda Hendricks was the manager on duty at the time, and was allegedly seen spitting into food before serving it to Church<\/p>\n
An Oklahoma woman and her family have filed a lawsuit against Arby\u2019s after a former manager allegedly spat in her food, infecting the customer with oral herpes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a civil complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Jennica Church alleged that in late March, she went through the drive-thru line at an Arby\u2019s in Broken Bow after a long night of working to get a meal for herself and her family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was taking a little bit of time,\u201d Church told KJRH<\/a> in an interview published on Friday, June 19. \u201cI thought they were mad at me because it was about to close.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda Hendricks, 38, was the manager on duty at the time, and the two women knew each other and had a history, but it was nothing major, she told the outlet.<\/p>\n \u201cHendricks was responsible for preparing food orders,\u201d the complaint alleges.<\/p>\n \u201cHendricks intentionally and deliberately spit on the meat or sandwich components while preparing Plaintiff Jennica Church’s order,\u201d the lawsuit alleges. \u201cAt the time Defendant Hendricks spit on the food, she knew she had Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1), commonly known as oral herpes.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit claims that the former manager \u201chad an active herpes outbreak with visible lesions\u201d when she allegedly spat on the food, and that she knew that the virus could be transmitted through her saliva.\u00a0<\/p>\n After receiving her order, Church claims that she took the food home to her husband’s father and grandmother, the latter \u201cwho was on hospice care and in a vulnerable medical condition,\u201d per the complaint.<\/p>\n Church’s complaint also says shared the food with her husband and their children.<\/p>\n Soon after, Church said she noticed flare-ups on her mouth that she had never experienced before, and eventually went to see a doctor and tested positive for HSV-1, the lawsuit said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Church connected her herpes to Hendricks because they live in a small town, and she claimed that Hendricks had been bragging to others about spitting in the food.<\/p>\n Surveillance video from the restaurant shows Hendricks \u201cpreparing food, spitting on meat or sandwich components, and placing the contaminated food on the sandwiches,\u201d per the lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n