Texas woman sues for grease burns after Church's Chicken floor collapse

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas woman has sued the company that runs Church's Chicken and three others for $50 million, saying the kitchen floor of the restaurant where she worked collapsed, causing fried chicken grease to spill and burn her body as she was caught in the gap.

The lawsuit filed last week in Dallas County alleged that Erica Acevedo, who worked at a Church's Chicken in Livingston, Texas, suffered burns to about 65 percent of her body in the incident last month. The floor collapse caused chicken fryers to turn over and spill boiling grease, it said.

"The boiling grease literally cooked Ms. Acevedo as she lay there, trapped," the lawsuit said. "Had a customer not come to her rescue, Ms. Acevedo would not have survived."

Officials from defendants Cajun Global, which runs Church's Chicken, and the Houston-based franchise operator of the store in East Texas did not respond to requests for comment. Two property management companies also listed in the suit could not be reached for comment.

Acevedo, 26, was airlifted to a Houston hospital, where she is still being treated for her burns, the lawsuit said. It added that the store manager and franchisee knew about the weak floor but did nothing to repair it.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Peter Cooney)