Judge lauded for giving woman who assaulted a fast food chain worker a taste of her own medicine

Many people out there misbehave with waiters, baristas, and other hospitality workers and get away with it because "the customer is always right." However, in this story of a Chipotle worker, she got justice - all thanks to Judge Timothy Gilligan. He gave her a fitting punishment for her misbehavior, thus, giving her a taste of her own medicine. In the judge's conversation with CNN, he speaks more about the whole case. 

In a video posted on Reddit by u/haleywaley16 that went viral, a customer at Chipotle is seen incessantly yelling at a worker, Emily Russell, who's standing behind the counter. However, things escalate and the woman who did this, Rosemary Hayne, throws a bowl of hot food in the face of the worker from close range. The culprit is a 39-year-old woman who is a mother of four kids. In the municipal court of Parma, Ohio, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault, after which she was given a rather fair yet unusual sentence by Judge Timothy Gilligan. 

The judge gave Hayne the choice to either opt for a 90-day jail sentence or a 30-day sentence on top of 60 days working in a fast food job. The judge asked her, "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?" Hayne replied, "I'd like to walk in her shoes," as she chose the second option. Along with this she also needed to pay a $250 fine and will be on probation for the next two years.

As per what Judge Gilligan and Hayne's attorney told the outlet, she has yet to find a job. Since she had no prior criminal record and was very sorry about her behavior, her attorney Joseph O'Malley expressed, "Let's give her the opportunity to not let this one day define the rest of her life." Gilligan, however, disagreed and pointed out that he saw no sense of remorse or guilt in Hayne during the court proceedings.

It was owed to the fact that even during the hearing, she kept pointing out and complaining about the bad food. The judge said, "She still has not picked up that this is not appropriate." He even asked Hayne during the hearing, "You didn't get your burrito bowl the way you like it, and this is how you respond?" He added that if she wasn't happy about the food at Chipotle, she surely isn't going to be ecstatic about the food she'll get in jail.

The judge also disclosed how he concluded this unusual sentence. He said, "Every time you watch the video, it makes you more and more upset. I was thinking, 'What else can I do rather than just have her sit in jail?'" When he was asked if he would ever hire Hayne to work at his restaurant, he said he didn't see her as a greater risk than anybody else walking down the street. He believes that Hayne is just someone who lost their cool. However, that was not okay either.

The reason he gave this unusual punishment to her was because this wasn't a rare case he'd come across in his 39 years of career. He says there are more cases like these than one would like to believe. He mentioned how he got someone who punched a McDonald's worker in the drive-thru because they didn't get a cookie a mere 90 days of jail time.

Chipotle worker Emily Russell told the court that she was dealing with the aftereffects of this humiliating and traumatizing event in her way and that she quit her job there to find another one. She also begins to start counseling to deal with this stress better. A friend of hers also started an online fundraising campaign for her. When asked to comment on this incident, Chipotle said, "The health and safety of our employees is our greatest priority, and we’re pleased to see justice served for any individual that does not treat our team members with the respect they deserve." On being asked how she felt about Hayne's sentence, Russell said, "She's going to get what she deserves. She didn't get a slap on the wrist. She's going to learn to work in fast food, and hopefully, it will be good."