LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Employee Murdered
Lake County, IL: (Mar-19-08) The family of Mary Hutchison brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Burger King and north suburban franchisees in Lake County, after the woman was murdered in the fast food restaurant in Lindenhurst. The suit stated that Hutchison of Trevor, Wis., had been working alone at the Grand Avenue Burger King on Nov. 27, 2006, when she was found dead next to an open safe by a co-worker arriving for the day. A former maintenance man at the restaurant, James Ealy, was later arrested and charged with her murder.
The suit, brought by Hutchison's husband, Ken, accused Burger King and her direct employers, Fox Lake Family Dining, Spence Group Service Inc., Northern Illinois Family Dining and William Spence, of failing in their responsibility to do a thorough background check on Ealy. Records show that Ealy had been convicted in Chicago in 1982 of murdering a pregnant woman and her three children. Allegedly, as part of the same incident, the mother's 3-year-old son had also been raped. Ealy, then 17, had been dating the woman's 15-year-old daughter. Ealy was acquitted when it was determined by the appellate court that the police evidence search had been illegal because they lacked probable cause.
Sources stated that a settlement had been reached with Burger King in the Hutchison wrongful death case, though both sides agreed to keep the agreement confidential. The location has since closed, following a drop-off in business due to the killing. [LAKE COUNTY NEWS-SUN: BURGER KING SETTLEMENT IN HUTCHINS MURDER]
Published on Mar-20-08
The suit, brought by Hutchison's husband, Ken, accused Burger King and her direct employers, Fox Lake Family Dining, Spence Group Service Inc., Northern Illinois Family Dining and William Spence, of failing in their responsibility to do a thorough background check on Ealy. Records show that Ealy had been convicted in Chicago in 1982 of murdering a pregnant woman and her three children. Allegedly, as part of the same incident, the mother's 3-year-old son had also been raped. Ealy, then 17, had been dating the woman's 15-year-old daughter. Ealy was acquitted when it was determined by the appellate court that the police evidence search had been illegal because they lacked probable cause.
Sources stated that a settlement had been reached with Burger King in the Hutchison wrongful death case, though both sides agreed to keep the agreement confidential. The location has since closed, following a drop-off in business due to the killing. [
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