​Woman Attacked By Three Popeyes Employees in Drive-Thru Says They Only Stopped When She Pulled a Gun 

An Atlanta woman is taking Popeyes and three of their employees to court, claiming that her simple request to staff to fix a wrong order was met with violence.

A lawsuit filed in Fulton County State Court says Denetra Dawson arrived at a Popeyes drive-thru in Atlanta and placed her order. When she pulled up to retrieve her order and pay, she told the three employees — identified in the lawsuit as Tenister Evans, Tenice Taylor, and Zariah Evans — that she hadn’t ordered a chicken breast with her meal and asked for honey. 

Dawson was told at the window that they didn’t have any honey, and she asked for a manager “because of the lack of customer service that was being displayed by” Tenister Evans, the lawsuit says.

Then Tenister Evans identified herself as the manager, and Dawson said she wanted to speak to another one. 

The employees then stepped out of the window and tried to force Dawson to move her car up, the lawsuit says. 

Taylor “approached the passenger side” and “began to yell, curse and threaten [Dawson] about not moving her car,” the lawsuit says. Taylor then opened her car door and entered, beginning to punch, scratch, and hit Dawson “with closed fists.”

The other two employees began doing the same, the lawsuit alleges. Dawson tried to drive away but the punches and hits were impairing her vision, forcing her to stop the car to avoid collision with other vehicles in the parking lot. 

One of them “forcefully ripped” Dawson’s hair “from her scalp leaving a bald spot,” according to the lawsuit. 

They only retreated when Dawson pulled out her licensed firearm. Dawson then called the police and reported the attack. When police responded to the scene, Zariah Evans and Taylor were charged with battery, and Tenister Evans was charged with obstruction of law enforcement.

At a news conference on Friday, Dawson told reporters she was physically and psychologically harmed. 

“I simply went to get food for my kids,” Dawson said. “Why me? I didn’t even think I was going to make it back to my kids.”

Popeyes, in a request for comment from The Messenger, said it has "absolutely no tolerance for violence of any kind in Popeyes® restaurants."

"The franchisee of this restaurant confirmed the incident took place in September 2022, and the employees involved were immediately terminated," the Popeyes statement continued. "We cannot share any additional details as there is an active lawsuit related to this incident.”

The lawsuit requests that Dawson be awarded $10,784 to cover medical expenses she says she incurred after the alleged attack, as well as any punitive damages against the defendants in an amount to be determined by a jury.

“I just pray that this, what happened to me, don’t happen to no one else,” Dawson said. “And I get the proper justice and bring some light to my situation so it won’t happen to no one else.”