An employee at an Arby’s restaurant in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, has been charged with spitting in a customer's food, an act that the customer claims resulted in her contracting oral herpes. The incident occurred in late March when Jennica Church, 38, ordered food at the drive-thru. According to police and court records, surveillance footage reportedly shows Amanda Hendricks, 38, the employee in question, spitting into Church's sandwich while preparing the order.
Church consumed one of the sandwiches and later developed symptoms consistent with an oral herpes infection. She has since tested positive for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1. Following the incident, Church contacted law enforcement, citing rumors that Hendricks had bragged about the act.
Hendricks was charged with poisoning food with intent to injure, a felony. Her criminal history includes convictions for narcotics possession and credit card fraud. In a civil lawsuit filed on June 16, Church alleges that Hendricks was permitted to work despite having visible lesions associated with an active herpes outbreak, leading to her ongoing concerns about transmitting the virus to her family.