Arby’s walk-in freezer where employee was found dead had been broken for NINE MONTHS: Staff ‘used screwdriver to open and close door which was propped open with can of cooking oil’
- Nguyet Le froze to death inside a walk-in freezer in a Louisiana Arby’s
- Her children are seeking over $1 million in damages over the tragic death
- The door Le was trapped behind had been faulty for nine months, and staff had to use a screwdriver to open and close it and use a can of oil to prop it open
An Arby’s manager who froze to death inside a walk-in freezer was trapped behind a door that had been broken for almost a year, a bombshell new lawsuit claims.
Nguyet Le, 63, was preparing for the store’s opening in New Iberia, Louisiana at around 9am on May 11 when she found herself stuck inside the icy container.
Her devastated son discovered her in the fetal position an hour later, and police said there were blood stains left on the doors after her frantic attempts to escape.
The lawsuit claims that the latch on the walk-in freezer had been broken since at least August 2022, and employees used a screwdriver to open and close it and a box of oil to keep the door open.
Nguyet Le, 63, froze to death inside an Arby’s freezer on May 11
A shocking new lawsuit claims that the freezer door had been broken for almost a year and employees were forced to use a screwdriver to open and close it
A former male employee, who did not want to be identified, told KATC News that multiple work orders were submitted to fix the broken latch.
He had also taken photos inside the the freezer from prior complaints.
‘They’ve known 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 to temporarily take over one of the restaurants in February.
Her son, Nguyen, had also moved with her because he suffers an unspecified disability, per the lawsuit.
Her time in charge of the New Iberia store was supposed to last just four weeks, but it was extended by a further 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
The court filing claimed that she had arrived at the restaurant at around 9am on May 11, an hour earlier than her staff, including her son, were set to arrive.
During the time when she was alone in the restaurant, she became trapped inside 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 by her attempts to escape.
A preliminary report from the coroner’s office confirmed the mother-of-four died of hypothermia.
Attorney Paul Skrabanek, who is representing the family, is calling for a formal investigation into the restaurant’s alleged freezer malfunctions. A former employee told him that the latch on the cooler was not working properly since August, and that the problem was known and ignored by management.
He said the family is suing, in part, because his inquiries to Arby’s would have gone unanswered. The family is seeking more than $1millon in damages.
Le was discovered inside the walk-in freezer at an Arby’s in New Iberia, Louisiana, pictured
The incident led Le’s children to file a lawsuit against Turbo Restaurants, Sun Holdings and Arby’s Corporate for negligence and gross negligence.
The family are seeking damages of at least $1 million.
Turbo Restaurants and Sun Holdings own over a thousand franchisees across 12 states, under brans Applebee’s, Arby’s, Burger King, Golden Corral, IHOP, McAlister’s, Papa Johns and Taco Buenos.
DailyMail.com has contacted Arby’s and Sun Holdings for comment.
