Burger King should have known: suit
Mary Hutchison's family says Burger King put her in a dangerous situation, leading to her strangulation death in the Lindenhurst fast-food restaurant she managed.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, Kenneth Hutchison says his wife died because Burger King failed to do background checks on employees and installed an inadequate alarm system that was not activated on the day of her death.
In addition to the Burger King Corp., the lawsuit names Lake Family Dining and Spence Group Services, which run the Lindenhurst restaurant.
Ealy had been convicted of killing four people in 1982, but his conviction was tossed out on appeal.
The lawsuit says Ealy had worked at the Burger King but apparently had failed to turn over his keys. The lawsuit also says the chain should have done more to secure the restaurant because of a 2001 hostage standoff in the same shopping center.
Lake Family Dining and Spence Group also operate a Burger King in Antioch, where Hutchison was beaten in a robbery attempt. The lawsuit says the owners agreed to move her to Lindenhurst, but nothing more was done to ensure her safety there.
Making her go into the store alone to count money, it adds, made her more vulnerable.
Neither family attorney Kathleen Zellner nor a Burger King spokeswoman returned calls Tuesday.