Woman caught on video throwing soup in face of restaurant manager after argument
A restaurant manager's TikTok video, in which she describes having soup thrown in her face by an angry customer, is going viral. The incident was also captured on surveillance video.
The interaction took place on the afternoon of Nov. 7 at Sol de Jalisco in Temple, Texas. Police told local NBC affiliate KCEN-TV that a woman first called the restaurant to complain about the soup she ordered.
The woman was complaining that the soup was too hot and had melted the lid of the container it was in, according to police. Jannelle Broland, the manager who was attacked, said on TikTok that the woman had cursed at her on the phone, and Broland had offered her a replacement and a free meal.
@bummynelly I hope this explains it! The video is on @section_8_ page. Again, please refrain from harassing or threatening this woman! Thanks again 💞💞 ##menudo ##restaurantlife ##karen
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"All she wanted to do was yell and cuss," Broland said in her video. "She called me names and the kitchen staff names. I told her, 'Ma’am I can still help you, all I’m asking is you do not yell and curse at me.' She says ‘Oh no, honey, you haven’t heard attitude yet, and I will talk to you any which way I f---ing want. I said, 'No ma'am you will not,' and I hung up the phone."
Broland said the woman called back and asked to speak with a manager but hung up after being put on hold. Later, the woman came into to the restaurant, where she argued with Broland for several minutes, swearing and complaining without accepting offers of a refund or replacement meal.
"I said, 'If you do not leave or calm down I’m going to call the police,' and she said, 'I don’t give a f---. … I said, 'Ma’am, I can still help you, I just need you to not curse and yell at me.' That is when she made the split decision to grab (the soup) and throw it in my face," said Broland.
Broland said that thankfully the soup was not as hot as it could have been if it were fresh, but the spices in the soup caused her to have a reaction.
"It was still pretty warm, but if anything the spices from our soup definitely affected me more than anything," she said. "It really felt like I had just been pepper-sprayed. My eyes were burning, my nose was bleeding."
Broland said the attack shocked her.
"It kind of kind of took my breath away for a second because just the burning I was really in shock from it all," she told KCEN-TV.
Charges are pending against the woman, according to KCEN-TV, and she has been banned from the restaurant. She has not been identified publicly.
"We do not condone this type of behavior and hold our citizens to the highest standard," Temple Police Deputy Chief Allen Teston said. "If a citizen believes they have received poor service, we advise them to remain civil until the problem is resolved."
Broland said that she had been in the restaurant industry for six years and has never experienced this kind of behavior. She is pressing charges against the woman and asked followers not to bully her if she is identified.
Broland told KCEN-TV she hopes her story will make people think about the way they act when dealing with service workers.
"I hope this brings a lot of attention to the way that not just servers in my area, but servers everywhere are treated and short staffed or not," she said. "We don't just put on an apron and a name tag and we're just robots — we are still human beings with emotions the same way."
