Arby’s walk-in freezer where the employee was found dead had been broken for NINE MONTHS
Arby’s walk-in freezer where the employee was found dead had been broken for NINE MONTHS: staff ‘used a screwdriver to open and close the door which was left open with a can of cooking oil’
- Nguyet Le froze to death in a walk-in freezer at a Louisiana Arby’s
- Her children are seeking more than $1 million in damages for the tragic death
- The door Le was behind had been broken for nine months and staff had to use a screwdriver to open and close it and use a can of oil to hold it open
An Arby manager who froze to death in a walk-in freezer was trapped behind a door that had been broken for nearly a year, a new lawsuit alleges.
Nguyet Le, 63, was preparing for the store opening in New Iberia, Louisiana on May 11 around 9 a.m. when she became trapped in the icy container.
Her devastated son discovered her in a fetal position an hour later, and police said bloodstains were left on the doors from her frantic attempts to escape.
The lawsuit alleges that the walk-in freezer’s latch had been broken since at least August 2022 and employees used a screwdriver to open and close it and a box of oil to hold the door open.
Nguyet Le, 63, froze to death in Arby’s freezer on May 11
A shocking new lawsuit claims the freezer door had been broken for nearly a year and workers were forced to use a screwdriver to open and close the door
This was told by a former male employee, who did not want to be identified KATC News that multiple work orders have been submitted to repair the broken latch.
He had also taken pictures in the freezer of previous complaints.
“They know about it,” he said. “Workers have complained.”
According to the lawsuit, Le was usually the general manager of an Arby’s location in Houston, but had moved to Louisiana in February to temporarily take over one of the restaurants.
Her son, Nguyen, had also moved with her because he has an unspecified disability, according to the lawsuit.
Her time in charge of the New Iberia store was only supposed to last four weeks, but it was extended for another two weeks, during which time she suffered the chilling death.
Nguyet Le is pictured with her son, who also worked at Arby’s in New Iberia, and the person who discovered his mother’s body
According to the court, she had arrived at the restaurant around 9 a.m. on May 11, an hour earlier than her staff, including her son, were supposed to arrive.
During the time she was alone in the restaurant, she got stuck in the walk-in freezer, which was usually kept at -10 degrees.
She was tragically discovered by her son when he arrived for work, and the responding officer reported that the inside of the freezer door was bloodied, likely from her escape attempts.
A preliminary report from the coroner’s office confirmed that the mother of four died of hypothermia.
Lawyer Paul Skrabanek, representing the family, is calling for a formal investigation into the restaurant’s alleged freezer malfunctions. A former employee told him that the interlock on the cooler had been malfunctioning since August and that the problem was known and ignored by management.
He said the family is suing in part because his questions to Arby’s would have gone unanswered. The family is seeking damages of more than $1 million.
Le was discovered in the walk-in freezer of an Arby’s in New Iberia, Louisiana, pictured
The incident prompted Le’s children to file a lawsuit against Turbo Restaurants, Sun Holdings and Arby’s Corporate for negligence and gross negligence.
The family is seeking damages of at least $1 million.
Turbo Restaurants and Sun Holdings own more than 1,000 franchisees in 12 states, under the Applebee’s, Arby’s, Burger King, Golden Corral, IHOP, McAlister’s, Papa Johns, and Taco Buenos brands.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Arby’s and Sun Holdings for comment.