A Burger King spitting lawsuit has been settled after an African-American truck driver from Ohio claimed that his burger was spit into and he sued the franchise.
The victim, Glenn Goodwin settled the civil rights lawsuit with Fast Food Enterprises #3, which operates the Burger King franchise on Interstate 90 in Fairview, Penn.
Burger King's attorneys had argued there's no proof of the spitting or that the worker was motivated by racial prejudice if the spitting occurred. Furthermore, the attorneys wanted the lawsuit thrown out, along with the burger - which a state trooper who arrived to take Goodwin's complaint that night did after examining the burger.
Goodwin's suit claimed that the spitting was racially motivated. He said he was the only black customer in the Burger King on Nov. 11, 2008 when he ordered a burger.
According to GoErie.com, "Goodwin said he saw the male employee retrieve Goodwin's wrapped burger from a chute, then turn his back and unwrap the sandwich. Goodwin said the sandwich "had a 'disgusting' smell and seemed 'extra wet.'" He contacted the police, and court records show that their tests indicated there was saliva inside and outside the sandwich, though the burger was thrown away before any DNA testing was done to figure out just who exactly had done the spitting.
The case was scheduled to go to trial on January 14. The terms of the settlement are unknown, but lawyers for the plaintiff and defendant both said the case was "resolved to the satisfaction of all parties," but a confidentiality agreement kept them from saying anything more about the case.
