Talk about turning the tables on someone.
A woman in Ohio who berated and threw a hot burrito bowl at a Chipotle worker was convicted of assault and has been subjected to an atypical punishment.
Her sentence includes a month in jail and two months working a fast-food job, according to media reports.
It all happened back on Sept. 5, a day when the fast-food restaurant was busy and packed. While the restaurant was short-staffed, 26-year-old Emily Russell, the store manager at the time, claimed she made and remade an order for 39-year-old Rosemary Hayne.
Hayne wasn’t satisfied with her food, and a video captures first Hayne berating Russell, and then hurling the hot food in Russell’s face at close range. Video of the ordeal went viral after the incident.
“I didn’t expect it at all,” Russell said to the New York Times. “I just blinked and there was sour cream dripping from my hair.”
Eventually, someone called the police.
Heated by the exchange, Russell went to the back of the restaurant to wipe the food off. Her face was red and irritated from the hot food hitting her skin. She called her mother, cried and then finished the remaining four hours of her shift. She then went to a hospital and was released soon after.
Hayne, a mother of four, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge. Judge Timothy Gilligan of Parma Municipal Court sentenced her to 180 days in jail, with 90 days suspended.
Gilligan offered her a chance to reduce her sentence with the choice of choosing between a 90-day jail sentence or a 30-day sentence on top of 60 days working in a fast-food job.
“Do you want to walk in her shoes for two months and learn how people should treat people, or do you want to do your jail time?” Gilligan asked Hayne at the hearing.
Hayne responded, “I’d like to walk in her shoes.”
Hayne must complete her time as a fast-food worker by the time she reports to jail in March.
To her attorney, Joseph O’Malley, the sentencing was a fair one.
“Here’s a lady that’s almost 40 years old, that never had any type of criminal record at all and then has this one bad day,” he said to the New York Times. “I was imploring the judge to not let this one day define her.”
In Hayne’s case, she has to find a fast-food job herself, then have her job approved by the court, and will have to work there 20 hours a week. So far, she has yet to find a job, O’Malley told media outlets.
Gilligan told CNN he had to think about the unusual sentence for a couple of days before the hearing took place.
“Every time you watch the video, it makes you more and more upset,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘What else can I do rather than just have her sit in jail.’”
Russell said she was taken aback by the sentencing.
“I thought she was going to get a slap on the wrist, but she didn’t. She is going to get to walk in my shoes,” she said to the New York Times.
“She’s going to get what she deserves,” she also said to CNN.
Since then, Russell has left her job due to stress and feeling unsupported by Chipotle after working the rest of her shift that night and not getting the next day off.
Chipotle has responded to the matter, saying, “The health and safety of our employees is our greatest priority, and we’re pleased to see justice served for any individual that does not treat our team members with the respect they deserve.”
In addition to the sentencing, Hayne will have to pay a $250 fine and will be on probation for two years.
