ORLANDO—A Palm Beach County man is suing McDonalds, after an anti-gay rant by an employee of the restaurant led to a physical assault upon the man, who claims the battery was motivated because he is gay. According to the dozen-plus pages of the civil lawsuit—which was filed last May and is scheduled to be heard sometime prior to next June—in December 2010, Ryan Snyder and four other persons had gone into an Orlando-area drive-thru, and noticed that the cashier hadn’t provided them with the change or a receipt from their order, which totaled around $15.
When they pulled up to the next window to get their order, they told the employee, Kristy Perez, that they had not been given change or their receipt. The suit claims that Perez said of the cashier, “That stupid faggot doesn’t know how to do his job. He just came out of the closet.” According to court documents, Snyder told Perez, “Ma’am, I am gay. How can you say stuff like that?”
A YouTube video shows Perez becoming angered at Snyder’s admonition, and then lunging at the man and physically assaulting him. The suit alleges that two of Perez’s co-workers restrained her from further injuring Snyder. Perez pled no contest to criminal charges, and last month was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, along with three years’ probation.
Among the charges, Snyder’s civil suit claims that McDonalds’ management “owed a duty” to its patrons to employ “competent, qualified, and safe” workers, and that it was negligent by “hiring” Perez, who showed she was “dangerous” to customers.
McDonalds is also being sued for Perez’s “harmful and offensive contact” with Snyder, and seeks damages for bodily injury, pain, and suffering, as well as medical costs, among other financial remedy.
