Playoff glory, meet Margarita glory. #StanleyCup http://pic.twitter.com/UsJPRNKUhU
— Chili's Grill & Bar (@Chilis) June 3, 2015
An Upstate New York couple Ken Yerdon and his wife Julie Aluzzo-Yerdon plan to sue Chili’s for “the psychological trauma they endured not knowing whether [Ken] Yerdon had contracted HIV or hepatitis” after they used DNA testing to prove that a waiter at the restaurant spit in his soda.
Last July, the two went to Chili’s where Gregory Lamica was their waiter. According to the couple’s version of events, things were going OK until the service started to slip. They ordered broccoli that came out undercooked and never received chips they ordered. Ken, noticing that their waiter seemed a little put off, asked Lamica if he was OK. Clearly he wasn’t.
As they were leaving, the couple asked for a refill on to-go cups. When the lid on Ken’s soda popped off on the ride home, he saw clear evidence of a loogie. Unfortunately, Ken had already taken two sips from the soda.
The couple immediately took photos and went back to the Chili’s and told the managers about the situation. While they apologized and offered both a refund and coupons, they wouldn’t fire Lamica. The waiter went so far as to admit what he’d done (in between tears) as the Yerdons passed him in the parking lot.
Unsatisfied, the Yerdon’s called the police. At that point, Lamica denied spitting in their cup. But the couple had the soda DNA tested. Three months later, the test came back positive. Confronted with scientific evidence, Lamica admitted wrongdoing. He was sentenced to one-year conditional discharge and a $125 surcharge. He was fired from the restaurant three months after the incident.
Still, concerned for his health, Ken was tested for HIV (you can’t get HIV this way) and hepatitis twice, once after the incident and once six months later. Though Lamica has already been punished, the couple is still going after Chili’s.
So what are the lessons here? If you’re the emotional sort (as Lamica clearly is), working with the public probably isn’t for you. Maybe there’s some data entry you can do, where your interaction with people is kept to a minimum.
If you’ve had a run-in with a disgruntled waiter, maybe it’s best to ask to be re-seated elsewhere or take your business to another Chili’s. Clearly, it’s a relationship that wasn’t meant to be. A clean break is the best way to go.
And if you’re a manager that encounters a story like this, recognize that coupons probably won’t be enough to right the wrong.
via Syracuse.com and Gawker
