PRINCETON – A mixed race couple has filed a lawsuit claiming they were assaulted and called racial slurs by the relative of a Burger King manager while they were eating at the fast food restaurant.
The restaurant, however, says venue isn’t proper for this case.
Stephen and Samantha Wessells of Bluefield, West Virginia, filed their complaint in Mercer Circuit Court against Little General Store Inc., operating business as Burger King Restaurant and Rodney G. Thompson.
According to the complaint, the Wessells say they went to the Burger King restaurant in Bluefield, Virginia, to eat dinner with their two young sons.
After ordering dinner, they say they were maliciously assaulted by Thompson, who is a relative of Burger King manager Joseph Puckett. They also say Thompson yelled racial slurs at them and threatened them with bodily harm because they are a mixed race couple.
“The injuries were severely upsetting and scarring, and these injuries were exacerbated by the fact that they occurred in front of the children of plaintiffs and the injuries will continue to be painful in the future,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs … have been reluctant to go out in public and to eat in restaurants together and with their young children and will be forced to take precautions in the future to protect and defend against these types of assaults and threats and the negligence of others that fail to protect against or intervene to stop similar assaults and threats.
They accuse the defendants of assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. They seek compensatory damages for their injuries, which include emotional distress, humiliation, annoyance and inconvenience. They also seek punitive damages as well as court costs, attorney fees and interest.
In its motion to dismiss filed October 1, Little General Stores says venue isn’t proper because the alleged incident didn’t take place in Mercer County or even in West Virginia. Bluefield sits on the border of West Virginia and Virginia. It also says Little General’s principal place of business is Raleigh County, West Virginia, and that Thompson lives in Bluefield, Virginia.
The Wessells are being represented by Michael Magann of Magann Law Office in Bluefield. The defendant company is represented by Victor Flanagan and Daniel Burns of Pullin Fowler Flanagan Brown & Poe of Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge William Sadler.
Mercer Circuit Court case number 20-C-166