At a Chipotle in Parma, Ohio, in September, Rosemary Hayne, 39, was seen on camera throwing a bowl of chicken burrito at Emily Russell, 26, the store manager.
Rosemary Hayne pleaded guilty to one count of assault last week after she hurled a burrito bowl at Chipotle worker Emily Russell. Initially, she was sentenced to three months in jail for the assault.
Judge Timothy Gilligan ordered Rosemary Hayne to serve her sentence through employment instead of jail time. She will be required to work at least 20 hours per week at a fast-food restaurant for two months.
"You didn't get your burrito bowl the way you like it and this is how you respond?" Judge Timothy asked the accused.
"This is not real housewives of Parma. This behavior is not acceptable."
In a viral video, Rosemary Hayne is seen confronting Emily Russell angrily at the counter when her order was brought to her.
She forcefully throws the entire bowl at Russell's face, causing her to be covered in food and sauce. Hayne then leaves the store while continuing to shout at the worker, leaving bystanders shocked by the sudden and unprovoked attack.
In court, she apologized to Russell, but according to FOX 8, she was not pleased with the manner her food was prepared by the restaurant.
"If I showed you how my food looked and how my food looked a week later from that same restaurant, it's disgusting looking," Hayne said.
Judge Gilligan expressed skepticism towards Hayne's explanation for her actions.
He responded: "I bet you won't be happy with the food you are going to get in jail."
Emily Russell shared the impact of the assault on her well-being. She revealed that the incident had traumatized her to the extent that she had to resign from her position at Chipotle.
Recounting the events, Russell stated, "'She started screaming at me... The next thing I knew, she threw the food in my face. I was so embarrassed and in shock."
According to Russell's account, she was trying to protect a 17-year-old employee who was being yelled at by Hayne when the incident occurred.
Russell had already remade Hayne's order twice and even added extra protein, but Hayne returned and suddenly threw the bowl at her.
Furthermore, Russell mentioned that the freshly prepared food was at a scorching temperature of 200 degrees, causing her face to burn and turn red.
Police discovered Hayne at her house and took her into custody shortly after a 911 call reporting the attack.
Parma police Lt. Dan Ciryak said: "It was pretty easy to locate her, as the caller provided her license plate information and the female's receipt displayed her first name as Rosie along with her phone number."
Judge Gilligan posed a question to Hayne, presenting her with two options. He asked, "Do you want to walk in her shoes for two months and learn how people should treat people, or do you want to do your jail time?"
"I'd like to walk in her shoes," Hayne said.
Speaking about the sentence for Rosemary Hayne, Judge Gilligan said: "So I thought, why should the city taxpayers pay for her and feed her for 90 days in the jail if I can teach her a sense of empathy?"
Emily Russell, the former Chipotle store manager, expressed her satisfaction with the sentencing, stating that Hayne didn't receive a lenient punishment and would learn from working in the fast-food industry.
Russell quit her job shortly after the assault and applied for a new job.
"It was mentally and physically getting hard on me. Working 65-hour weeks, no raises, no appreciation. I just had enough," she wrote in a social media post.
After leaving her job at Chipotle, Emily Russell found employment at Raising Cane's. Within a month of working at the fast-food chain, she received a raise and was promoted to a higher position.
