Waffle House buyer maced, tased, and zip-tied over hash brown order, lawsuit says

A Nashville man trying to order a hash brown bowl at an area Waffle House claims he was instead hit in the face with bear spray, taken to the ground with a stun gun, and immobilized with plastic zip-ties following a confrontation with the cook that went off the rails.

Gregory Lynn Hall, 62, says he was assaulted by a riot gear-clad security guard at the restaurant after getting in the middle of an argument between the cook and a server who turned out to be the cook’s wife, according to a six-figure lawsuit obtained by The Independent.

In his complaint, Hall, who was hospitalized following the altercation, calls the security guard’s actions “unjustified, excessive, and malicious,” alleging he “sought to embarrass, and humiliate” him. The guard “had no reason to confront Mr. Hall with riot gear just because he was trying to order food at the window,” says the complaint, which blames the cook for sparking the encounter.

However, in a response filed in court on Tuesday, Waffle House attorneys fired back at Hall, arguing that he contributed significantly to the situation.

Hall, the response says, “was being rude and abusive to employees of the restaurant and was told to leave the premises, which he refused to do. He continued aggressively arguing with the security guard and continued ignoring multiple commands to leave the premises, which resulted in a use of non-lethal force to expel [him] from the premises.”

If a jury indeed rules in favor of Hall – who is seeking at least $300,000 in damages – Waffle House argues that “a percentage of fault should be assigned to [Hall] to reduce or bar his recovery.”

In an email, Hall’s attorney told The Independent that both sides have entered into an agreed protective order, which forbids certain sensitive information from being shared, and thus declined to comment.

The Waffle House chain, open 24/7, has developed a reputation for being a place where fights are known to break out, as memorialized in skits on Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, and others.

Just last year, a customer was pummeled by a Waffle House’s entire staff after taking a swing at a cook who he believed was responsible for burning his hash browns, according to reports.

“I’ve probably cleaned blood off of every surface of a Waffle house,” one former server told The Independent in a 2023 interview.

Both Waffle House and the security company, S&S Management Group, LLC, are named as defendants in Hall’s suit. The security guard accused of attacking Hall is not being sued personally. Attorneys for the two companies, along with a Waffle House spokesperson, did not respond on Wednesday to requests for comment.

Hall’s grievance against the beloved chain dates back to the night of May 4, 2024, when he showed up shortly before midnight at Waffle House #2129 in Nashville, explains his complaint, which was first filed in Davidson County, Tennessee court and removed to Nashville federal court in June.

“Mr. Hall entered the restaurant to order when the cook began shouting profanities and told him to get out and go to the window to order his food,” the complaint goes on. “[Hall] went to the window to place his order, and the female Waffle House employee came to the window to take his order, but before she could do so the cook began to use profanities again towards [Hall] and the woman, telling the female Waffle House Employee to ‘get the ‘f’ back over there.’”

Hall was “astonished by the cook’s demeaning tone and disrespect towards his fellow employee,” according to the complaint, which says Hall stepped in and asked the cook why he was talking to the server in such a way. It says the cook replied, “That’s my f****** wife, you don’t tell me how to talk to her.”

The cook then took Hall’s order for a hashbrown bowl – a base layer of hashbrowns topped with eggs, melted cheese, and a choice of protein – after which Hall stepped back to wait for his food to be prepared, the complaint states.

Still “confused about the interaction,” Hall “decided to take a picture inside the restaurant to preserve the information in case something happened between the couple,” the complaint continues.

After snapping the photo, the complaint says a uniformed security guard on the premises confronted Hall and told him to leave. Hall said he was going to stick around until his food was ready, prompting the security guard to go to his truck and don riot gear, according to the complaint. He then returned with bear spray, and let it go in Hall’s face, the complaint alleges.

As Hall “tried to back away,” the security guard followed Hall outside and “used a stun gun/taser on Mr. Hall, sending strong waves of electricity through his body, causing intense pain and discomfort,” the complaint states.

“The pain and electricity, along with the disorienting bear spay in his eyes, caused Mr. Hall to fall to the ground in pain,” it contends. “The security guard put his knee in [Hall’s] back, pulled his arms behind him, then tied his hands with zip ties.

An ambulance then took Hall to the emergency room at Metro General Hospital, the complaint states.

“As a result of Waffle House and S&S’s negligence, [Hall] sustained severe and permanent injuries which have required and will continue to require medical attention,” according to the complaint.

It says Hall “has incurred and will continue to incur medical costs and expenses as well as pain and suffering.” Further, the complaint claims Waffle House and S&S Management breached their duty to protect Hall from harm while on the premises.

“Mr. Hall suffered serious mental injury in the form of loss of sleep, anxiety, and other injury which resulted directly from the battery committed by [the security guard] at the behest of the Waffle House employee,” the complaint states.

Waffle House’s February 17 response to Hall’s allegations admits that the security guard ordered Hall to leave the restaurant. but denies full responsibility for his alleged injuries.

S&S Management, in its own response, claimed the guard – who is not named individually as a defendant in the suit – “was acting outside the course and scope of his employment and in violation of its policies and procedures at the time of the alleged incident.”

Hall is now asking for $150,000 in compensatory damages and $150,000 in punitive damages, plus legal fees and court costs.

The case is set to go to trial on April 13, 2027.

Source: independent.co.uk