A woman from the US state of Ohio who had previously been convicted of assault after she hurled a burrito bowl at a Chipotle worker has been offered an unusual way to reduce her time in jail – to work at a fast food restaurant.
Rosemary Hayne, a 39-year-old, mother of four became famous, for all the wrong reasons, after a video of her screaming at a Chipotle employee – later identified as Emily Russell – before throwing her food in the worker’s face went viral, in September.
The 39-year-old later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour assault charge and received the sentence last week in an Ohio municipal court. Initially, she was sentenced to pay a fine and serve 180 days in jail. However, it seems like the judge had another idea.
“You didn’t get your burrito bowl the way you like it and this is how you respond?” Parma Municipal Court Judge Timothy Gilligan asked Hayne. “This is not ‘Real Housewives of Parma.’ This behavior is not acceptable.”
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The judge then told the 39-year-old she could cut off 60 days in jail if she agreed to work at least 20 hours per week at a fast food restaurant for two months.
“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?” Gilligan asked Hayne at the hearing.
To which Hayne responded by saying, “I’d like to walk in her shoes.” The 39-year-old has yet to find a job at a fast-food restaurant, Gilligan and her attorney told CNN, on Wednesday (Dec 6).
Russell quits job
Russell told the court she had been traumatised by Hayne’s actions and had quit her job at Chipotle since the incident.
In an interview with the Washington Post, on Tuesday (Dec 5), she said that she stepped in to protect a 17-year-old employee who was getting yelled at by Hayne.
Speaking about the incident, Russell said that the food Hayne threw was hot and burned her face. “I was so embarrassed and in shock,” she told WaPo.
‘Truly sorry’
Joseph O’Malley, Hayne’s attorney, told the CNN outlet how her client had no criminal record before the incident and was truly sorry about her actions that day.
“Let’s give her the opportunity to not let this one day define the rest of her life,” Malley told CNN.
Judge Gillian told the media outlet that Hayne will have to have her job approved by the court and will have to work 20 hours a week. He also spoke about how he had thought about the unusual sentence days before a hearing in November.
“Every time you watch the video, it makes you more and more upset,” Gillian told CNN. “I was thinking, ‘What else can I do rather than just have her sit in jail.’”
He also spoke about how he has been a judge for 30 years and sees such cases more than he wants to.
(With inputs from agencies)
