Panhandler Sues - Claims Scalding

Detroit Free Press

He's doused at eatery and called a nuisance

By Ben Schmitt, Staff Writer
November 30, 2007

A homeless man is suing a KFC manager, claiming she threw boiling water on him as he panhandled outside the restaurant on Woodward in Highland Park.

Bill Zimmerman, 50, who says he's a Navy veteran and lives in an abandoned home in Detroit, filed the lawsuit through his attorney Mark Bernstein on Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court.

He alleges that on July 12, manager Kimberly Mallory tossed a pail of boiling water on him as he crouched at a side door and asked people for money. The lawsuit also names KFC parent company Yum! Brands Inc., of Louisville, Ky., and franchisee Kazi Foods of Michigan as defendants.

"I never seen it coming," Zimmerman said Thursday of the water. "I just felt the pain."

Bernstein, a Farmington Hills attorney, said Zimmerman spent 13 days in a burn unit at Detroit Receiving Hospital for injuries to his face, back and legs.

"It's unbelievable," Bernstein said. "We don't live in the Middle Ages, but apparently KFC has a different point of view." Zimmerman is seeking an amount more than $25,000.

A spokesman for KFC, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, said the company cannot comment on pending litigation.

Mallory, 46, who still works at the restaurant, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

But in a police report Mallory said Zimmerman constantly harasses customers by cursing them and demanding money. The report said the police officer observed minor injuries to Zimmerman. No one was ever charged, Bernstein said.