In an amazing and definitely not wasteful use of technology, New York State Police used DNA evidence to determine that a Chili’s waiter spit in a couple’s drinks. Ken Yerdon, his wife Julie Aluzzo-Yerdon, and their 12-year-old son were dining at a Clay, N.Y. Chili’s last July when they experienced some issues with the service.
During the meal, Yerdon and his wife complained to their then 24-year-old waiter, Gregory Lamica, that their broccoli was undercooked and that they had never received their chips. The couple spoke to Syracuse.com about the incident that followed:
“They were busy — we understood,” Julie Aluzzo-Yerdon said. “We were patient with him, but we could tell he was annoyed with us. All Ken said to him was, ‘Are you OK? Have we done something to offend you?’ And he said, ‘Oh, no, no.”
When they were getting ready to go, the Yerdons told Lamica they wanted to get their drinks refilled and to take them in to-go cups. Lamica brought them the cups, as if he’d expected them to pour the remains of their drinks into the cups, according to a police report.
Ken Yerdon told Lamica they wanted him to refill the cups, since the drinks on their table were almost gone, he said. Lamica seemed annoyed again, and took the cups to the back of the restaurant, Yerdon said.
While I don’t ever advocate that anyone who works in food service spit in a customer’s food or drinks… seriously, what kind of monster insists that a busy server refill their drinks so they can take them to go? At any rate, that’s when the situation spun out of control.
On their way out, they Yerdons saw Lamica and noticed that he wouldn’t make eye contact, the police report said.
Ken Yerdon took two sips from the cup. He wasn’t able to see inside because it had a lid and was Styrofoam. As they were driving home, the lid popped off.
“I saw the spit in the cup,” Ken Yerdon told Syracuse.com. “It wasn’t regular spit either. It was definitely a loogie.”
Yerdon went back to the restaurant where he complained to management, who offered a refund and some coupons, but would not take action against Lamica. It was at that point where he called the police, who took the cup as evidence and later showed up at Lamica’s home to swab his mouth for DNA.
When the results came back positive three months later, Chili’s fired Lamica. However, in a lawsuit filed this week, Yerdon and his family are suing Lamica, the owner of the Chili’s in question, and Chili’s parent company for negligence and psychological trauma due to the fact that he may have contracted HIV or hepatitis.
Ken Yerdon, 45, a traveling operator for a power company, tested negative for HIV and hepatitis immediately after the incident. But he had to wait six months to be tested a second time to ensure he was in the clear.
“It was a long six months of anxiety,” Julie Aluzzo-Yerdon said.
I’m sure it was, even though as most people with a high school education are surely aware, HIV cannot be contracted through saliva. Yerdon and his family are seeking unspecified damages for their ordeal.
(Via ABC News, Syracuse.com)