A former Arby’s manager in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, is charged with felony poisoning after a woman says a spitting incident at an Arby’s in Broken Bow led to her being diagnosed with herpes. The woman and her family are also suing the manager, Arby’s, and a
BROKEN BOW, Okla. — Jennica Church didn’t expect her night to turn into something she’d carry for years.
After a long bartending shift, she stopped at an Arby’s in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. “I love Arby’s—not anymore,” she said.
Church recalled that the wait “was taking a little bit of time,” and she wondered if staff were upset with her because the restaurant was about to close. She also said she had “a little history” with Amanda Hendricks, the manager at the time, though nothing major.
Church went home, ate, and shared the sandwiches with her father-in-law and grandmother-in-law. Not long after that night, her mouth began to flare up “and that had never happened.”
A doctor later diagnosed her with herpes.
Broken Bow is small, and Church said the story moved fast. She claimed Hendricks was bragging about spitting in Church’s sandwiches. Church said her daughter heard about it, and the account of what happened eventually reached law enforcement.
In an affidavit, Broken Bow police officers said they pulled cameras from Arby’s and saw Hendricks spit in the food. Hendricks is charged with felony poisoning with intent to injure, and a warrant has been issued for her arrest.
Church and her family have filed a lawsuit against Hendricks, Arby’s, and their affiliated restaurant groups. The filing says the incident has caused extreme anxiety, emotional distress, and fear of infection. For Church, the fear is practical as well as personal. She worries her diagnosis and what she experienced will follow her into her working life in the service industry.
“If I go out to each and see someone with a big thing on their face, I don’t want them serving me food,” Church said.
The accusation has hit her family in intimate ways, too. Patricia Dollarhite, Church’s mother-in-law, described the anger and strain of trying to avoid contact around food she says was contaminated.
“My son was sitting at my table. eating breakfast and he wanted a kiss. and he could not get one. so you bet I’m angry. ” Dollarhite said. “I see what it’s doing to my grandchildren, my son, my husband. I don’t want to kiss my husband. He ate the food!. Because he hasn’t had an outbreak, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have it.”.
Their attorney, Will Blocker, said he is stunned by what he says others did—or didn’t—do during the incident.
He said it appears no other employees who witnessed the spitting stopped it. “They let it go all the way out the door and my client now has a communicable disease,” Blocker said. “That has to be a culture deeper than Arby’s in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Maybe it’s Flynn Restaurant Group and all 300 stores they own. I don’t know, but we are going to find out.”.
Arby’s said it was not immediately available for comment. Church’s account. the police affidavit. the felony charge. and the family’s lawsuit all keep the focus on one moment that—if proven—would be more than just gross conduct. It would be harm that spreads beyond a receipt and into a household’s daily choices.
As the case moves forward, Church is left with the fear that changed her life started with a stop at a restaurant—and a claim that someone else decided to spit before handing over food.
Arby’s Broken Bow Oklahoma McCurtain County felony poisoning herpes spitting in food Amanda Hendricks Jennica Church lawsuit