Houston family suing Arby’s after mother found dead in freezer

HOUSTON - A Houston woman froze to death after she was left stranded inside a restaurant freezer for hours. It happened at Arby’s in New Iberia, Louisiana on May 11th. The woman’s family is now suing the restaurant and franchise. 

MORE: Arby's employee found dead in freezer had 'beat her hands bloody' trying to escape, lawsuit says

Nguyet Le’s four kids won’t let their mother’s loving memory fade without justice. The family from Houston is now suing Arby’s and its parent company, Turbo Restaurants, which is a subsidiary of Sun Holdings, Inc. The lawsuit claims negligence and gross negligence in Le's death.

The family’s attorney, Paul Skrabanek, said Nguyet Le, 63, had been working at the Arby’s off the South Loop West in Houston for several years but was asked to fill in as general manager for the New Iberia, Louisiana location for a month and a half.

On May 11th, Ms. Le showed up to the restaurant at 9 AM.   

"She began doing duties to prepare the restaurant for opening that day and somehow must’ve gotten locked in that freezer before 10 AM because other employees began to show up at 10, 11 o'clock in the morning, and they couldn’t get in. I guess they don’t give them keys." 

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Skrabanek said the employees called Ms. Le’s phone repeatedly but received no answer for hours. It wasn’t until upper management asked Ms. Le’s son, Nguyen, who served as co-general manager and had keys to the restaurant, to check on the place nearly nine hours later.  

"The manager realized we don’t have any sales at the location today, that’s really really odd. He asked him to go check things out and that’s when Nguyen found his mother about 6 o'clock that evening," Skrabanek said. "Talking to the police officer that investigated this scene, they said she really struggled to get out of that freezer. She beat on the door as hard as she could. There was blood on the door, and she ultimately fell face first and froze to the floor." 

 

(Photo courtesy of family's attorney Paul Skrabanek - shared with permission)

Documents said Ms. Le died of hypothermia as the freezer was maintained at least -10 degrees or colder at all times, per company policy. The lawsuit also claims employees would use a screwdriver to open and close the door, and a box of oil to help keep the freezer door open.  

"We know that talking to a former employee there that it had been broken since at least August of last year," Skrabanek said. "And that upper management had come through there and personally witnessed that broken latch and nothing had been done. He made repeated requests to get it addressed and in fact, I’m told that Ms. Le actually made a request in writing to management about it."

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Skrabanek said his office has requested that Arby’s and its parent companies preserve any evidence related to this case, including surveillance video of the incident.

FOX 26 reached out to an attorney representing the franchise, but as of Wednesday afternoon, have not heard back.

(Photo courtesy of family's attorney Paul Skrabanek - shared with permission)

A spokesperson with Arby’s corporate said, "We are aware of the tragic incident that took place at our franchised location in New Iberia, LA. The franchisee is cooperating fully with local authorities as they conduct their investigation. Due to this being an active investigation, we defer any further comment to the state police department."