A St. Louis woman who alleged on Facebook that she found "live worms" inside the meat at the Florissant Steak N Shake is being sued by the restaurant's parent company.
Melissa White, a server at the eatery, posted on Facebook on January 5 that she'd discovered wormy meat while cooking a steak patty. She claimed she was then fired for refusing to sell it.
"Just got fired from Steak N Shake in Florissant ... because I found live worms while cooking a steakpatty moving inside of it and refused to sell that meat," White wrote. "Right now they are still selling same meat. #Nooneevenchecked it. I just don't want everyone getting sick. I just got fired for nothing. I have a family this shit is not right I did nothing wrong."Steak n Shake never had the opportunity to inspect the patty that Defendant claimed had worms in it because Defendant was uncooperative and refused to provide it to Steak n Shake management.The company says it reached out to White to demand she take the post down. She did not comply. So, it filed suit today in federal court, alleging defamation and claiming more than $75,000 in damages.
To date, Defendant’s Facebook post has received approximately 7,300 “reactions,” and 36,657 “shares.” The false information contained in Defendant’s Facebook post has caused significant reputational and financial harm to Steak n Shake, including but not limited to a substantial decrease in sales at its restaurants.
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