Arby's customer is diagnosed with HERPES after manager spit on her sandwich, police say

Published: 22:01, 23 June 2026 | Updated: 22:28, 23 June 2026 An Arby's customer in Oklahoma has claimed she contracted herpes from an employee who spat into her sandwich.  Jennica Church, of Broken Bow, said she developed painful sores around her mouth and lips after visiting an Arby's drive-through on March 28.  Church ordered the four-for-$10 sandwich deal from the restaurant and told KJRH that she thought the workers were upset with her because she showed up close to their closing time.  The woman brought the sandwiches home and shared them with her father-in-law and grandmother-in-law.  But two days after consuming the food, a painful blister formed on Church's lip, which she stated had never happened before. She was later diagnosed by a doctor with HSV-1, commonly known as oral herpes. Church's daughter allegedly heard from the daughter of Amanda Hendricks, former manager of the Arby's, that Amanda saw Church at Arby's and decided to spit in her sandwich.  According to an incident report filed by local officer Zane Mann, video footage from the Arby's cameras confirmed this. Jennica Church, recently diagnosed with herpes after consuming a sandwich that contained an employee's spit A painful blister appeared on Church's lip two days after eating the Arby's sandwich The report, seen by the Daily Mail, said: 'While making the order, Amanda can be seen grabbing meat from the slicer, bring it to around neck level, leaning her head down with her mouth close to the meat, and appears to spit and place the meat on one of the sandwiches and has the order sent out.' The probable cause affidavit states that the video shows 'the saliva leave' Hendricks's mouth.   After Hendricks reportedly admitted to the act in a phone call with officer Mann, a warrant for her arrest was filed and she was charged with the felony of poisoning food/medicine with intent to injure. Along with the criminal case, Church and her family have filed a lawsuit against Hendricks claiming the incident caused anxiety, emotional distress and fear of infection, stemming from her allegedly developing herpes symptoms from the saliva. Church said she believes visible breakouts could even impact her work as a bartender.  'If I go out to eat and see someone with a big thing on their face, I don't want them serving me food,' she said.  Dr Stuart Fischer, a former emergency room doctor and practicing internist, told the Daily Mail that it is possible to contract herpes from shared saliva, but it is rare. He said: 'Usually, herpes works by direct contact. It enters the body by direct contact. Amanda Hendricks, criminally charged with poisoning food/medicine with intent to injure, a felony Church and members of her family have filed a lawsuit against the employee, claiming it was the cause of her diagnosis 'Normal spit in a sandwich would be digested by all the body's enzymes, especially when you're eating a sandwich.'  Fischer has treated the virus in multiple cases and mentioned that many people contract herpes without realizing as the symptoms can often lay dormant with no outbreaks.  'It's not always active,' he said.  In the lawsuit, the burden of proof is on Church, which in Fischer's opinion, would require that it is 'inconceivable' that she got it through other means. 'A situation like this, I've never heard of in my life, but we live in strange times,' Fischer said.  Court records indicate that both the criminal and civil cases remain unresolved. The Broken Bow Arby's refused to provide any comment to the Daily Mail at this time.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.