Judge Sentences Woman To Two Months Of Working At A Fast Food Chain For Throwing A Burrito Bowl At A Chipotle Worker
Sometimes learning a lesson means walking in someone else's shoes.
Juliya Shangarey / Shutterstock Fast food workers have to deal with low wages, poor working conditions, and perhaps worst of all, disrespectful and downright rude customers. Oftentimes, patrons seem to lack basic kindness and empathy, at least for those serving them.
Rosemary Hayne, a 39-year-old woman, is one such customer. She recently visited her local Chipotle and made quite a scene when she was unsatisfied with her burrito bowl,
The customer threw her burrito bowl at the Chipotle manager because she claimed the food looked 'disgusting.'
After receiving her burrito bowl, Hayne walked up to the counter full of rage and unhappy with her meal. The workers made her a second and third bowl, but Hayne complained that they both looked equally as "disgusting."
The situation quickly took a turn for the worse, as Hayne started loudly yelling at the workers, specifically 17-year-old Emily Russell, the manager at the time. Despite Russell's attempts to diffuse the situation and calm the woman down, Hayne continued to shout in her face, yelling “I never in my life have had a Chipotle that looked like this.”
Keeping her customer service face on, Russel told the rude customer to "Have a nice day," to which Haynes seemingly saw red. She took her anger out on the manger, throwing the still-hot burrito bowl in her face.
Immediately, coworkers rushed to Russell’s side to help clean her up, while customers in the store called the cops and tried to stop Hayne from leaving the restaurant. "You did not just do that," one customer can be heard yelling at Hayne.
However, by the time the cops were called, the rude customer had already driven away.
Luckily, Hayne's order was originally a mobile order, meaning all her information, including her address, was in the Chipotle system. The cops immediately came to her home, where she was arrested for assault.
The judge sentenced Hayne to two months working at a fast-food restaurant.
Judge Timothy Gilligan was furious at the action that took place inside Chipotle and made sure that Hayne learned her lesson and would never do that again.
“You didn’t get your burrito bowl the way you like it, and this is how you respond?" he questioned, adding that it was a bizarre response.
Hayne apologized to the court and Russell but quickly added that her food looked "disgusting" and claimed that the judge would have been angry as well if he had seen what the food looked like.
“I’d be disgusted by that food? I bet you’re not going to be happy with the food you’re about to get in jail,” he said, leaving Hayne silent.
However, Gilligan gave Hayne a choice on what her sentencing would look like. Either she could go to jail for 180 days with a 90-day suspension, or she could reduce her time in jail by 30 days by working at a fast food restaurant for two months.
Hayne decided to “walk in Russell’s shoes” and take on the job at a fast food place, hoping she could learn the lesson of how “people should treat people.”
Some believe that sentencing Hayne to work in a fast-food restaurant is insulting to people who work in the industry for a living.
After reporters spread the news of Hayne's unusual sentencing, people were shocked that working in a fast-food restaurant is considered a punishment for a crime like assault.
TikToker Attorney Ryan voiced his opinion on the sentencing. Although he called it “creative” and said that it “will teach her some empathy," he brought up a fair question about working conditions in the U.S.
“What does it say about work conditions in the United States that … working a regular fast food job is as good as a punishment as jail?” he questioned. “What does that say about the way we’re treating working-class people?”
Ryan wasn't the only person troubled by Hayne's so-called punishment. News reporter host Ana Kasparian said that she was “bothered” by the fact that Hayne had the option to skip some jail time.
“It sends the wrong message to punish people by sentencing them to work at a fast food restaurant,” she claimed.
Although this sentencing is odd and unorthodox, the judge wanted Hayne to learn about respecting people who work at a fast food restaurant for a living — a lesson she clearly needed. Until she has walked in the workers' shoes, she would never truly know how poorly they are treated, or how difficult their job can be.
This case highlights a very valuable lesson about treating others the way you would want to be treated. Even if you are unhappy with your food, causing a scene and attacking a worker is not going to solve anything. Remember to think twice about your words but three times about your actions.
Lauren Reams is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news.