A woman who threw a bowl of hot food in the face of a Chipotle employee was sentenced to a month in jail and two months of fast food work.
Videos of the woman, Rosemary Hayne, berating Chipotle worker Emily Russell on September 5 and then throwing the food in her face at close range, went viral after the incident. Hayne, a 39-year old mother of four, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and received the sentence last week in the Parma, Ohio, municipal court. Judge Timothy Gilligan gave her the choice of 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?” During the hearing, Gilligan posed the question to Hayne.
“I’d like to walk in her shoes,” Hayne responded.
Her attorney, Joseph O’Malley, said his client had no criminal record before the incident and that she is truly sorry for her actions that day.
“Let us give her the chance not to let this one day define the rest of her life,” says the author. Hayne’s job must be approved by the court and she must work there 20 hours per week. O’Malley said Hayne does not currently have a job.
“Every time you watch the video, it makes you more and more upset,” he said. “I was thinking, ‘What else can I do but keep her in jail?'”
When asked if he would hire Hayne if he owned a fast food restaurant, the judge said she would have no trouble finding work.
“I do not see her as any more dangerous than anyone who walks in off the street,” he said. “I saw it as someone losing her cool.”
Gilligan stated that this is the first time he has handed down such a sentence, but it is not the first incident of this nature to come before him. He recalled a couple of years ago when a customer who did not receive a cookie in a Happy Meal at a McDonald’s reached through the drive-thru window and began punching a worker. That defendant got 90 days in jail, he said.
“I see these cases more than I want to,” Gilligan, a 30-year judge, said.
Asked for a comment on the case, Chipotle responded: “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.”
Hayne declined an interview request made through O’Malley. Russell told the court that she is still dealing with stress from the incident and that she quit her job at Chipotle after the attack and found another job. She stated that she would like to begin counseling to deal with the trauma she is still experiencing as a result of the attack.
Russell’s friend started a social media fundraising campaign for her, and it has so far raised $7,300, with the majority of that money coming since the first news reports about Hayne’s sentence last week. Russell told WJW in Cleveland that she was pleased with Hayne’s sentence.
“She’s going to get what she deserves,” she told the station. “She was not slapped on the wrist. She’s going to learn to work in fast food, and hopefully it will be good.”
In addition to the jail time and time spent working in fast food, Hayne will have to pay a $250 fine and will be on probation for two years.
