The mother of a teenage employee who was beaten unconscious by patrons at a local restaurant in Memphis says the business should’ve done more to protect her son.
According to Latisha Ford, her 17-year-old son, who works as a host at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen on North Germantown Parkway, was attacked by a group of adults, members of an eight-person party he had just seated on Sunday, July 23.
The teen, who would like to remain anonymous, said it was an hour-long wait, so he had no choice but to separate the group. That’s when things turned volatile.
“The girl in the green said she don’t like the table, so she’d rather get a bigger table, so I said it was still going to be a few minutes so they left,” the teen told FOX13.
However, the group came back and demanded a larger table to accommodate them again. The Cheddar’s host said a man in the group confronted him and punched him in the face.
“His whole family started coming toward me, jumping me. And after that is when I blacked out. Don’t remember nothing,” the teen said.
The teen’s mother, Latisha Ford, captured the aftermath of the brutal beating in a cellphone photo and shared it with local media. It shows the skinny teenager sprawled out on the ground, passed out with medical equipment attached to him as paramedics worked to revive him off camera.
“He had a concussion, his face was swollen, and he had a lot of bruises on him. He is really sore. They busted his neck really bad,” she said.
Ford said the people who attacked the boy were twice his size.
“He didn’t deserve that. Over a table?” Ford said.” When they called me to come up there, he was already on the ground. He was on the floor.”
Police say the people responsible for initiating the altercation were observed departing the restaurant in a white SUV. Ford and her son hope the attackers are caught.
The mother is particularly hopeful that they were captured on the restaurant’s surveillance cameras. She also believes Cheddar’s should have taken additional measures to ensure her son’s safety and protect him from such an incident.
Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, commonly known as Cheddar’s, is a national casual dining restaurant chain known for its made-from-scratch dishes.
“We are shocked and saddened by this senseless act of violence against our team member. Violence has no place in our restaurant and we are cooperating fully with the police investigation,” Cheddar’s said to FOX13 in a statement. “Any further questions should be directed to the Memphis Police Department.”
Ford is unhappy with how they responded to the situation.
“Corporate called me, and the only thing they asked was, Do we need any food?” she said. “I don’t need any food. I want justice for my son.”
