Torrington family finds blood on McDonald’s order

Logan Daily
Posted 3/31/23

The last thing Robert Priest and his 11-year-old son expected to find with their McDonald’s order was what they suspected to be human blood.

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Torrington family finds blood on McDonald’s order

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TORRINGTON – The last thing Robert Priest and his 11-year-old son expected to find with their McDonald’s order was what they suspected to be human blood. 

On the afternoon of Jan. 24, Priest and his son entered the drive-thru at McDonald’s to purchase a meal. They placed their order and approached the drive-thru window. 

“(We) went through the drive-thru at McDonalds in Torrington and got my 11-year-old son a chicken McNuggets meal with a large Dr. Pepper; he loves those McNuggets,” Priest said. “Once we got to our house, I noticed the paper bag had blood on it. Upon checking further, there was blood on the inside of the bag as well, on the sauce packet and, it seemed, everything that was touched by the McDonald’s employee had blood on it.” 

Priest photographed the blood on the bag, sauce containers and everything else contained in the bag. He then contacted McDonald’s corporate office to report his findings. 

“I contacted McDonald’s corporate office; they blew me off and said to contact the local store. I did and spoke to the manager,” Priest said. “She told me to bring back the meal. She threw it in the trash behind the counter. She told me she would have the owners contact me.”

While speaking with the store manager, Priest noticed the employee who had served them at the drive-thru had an injury to her finger, which was bleeding through a bandage. 

“The same lady that served us at the drive-thru was there and was the one that took the bag, her finger was still bleeding (about 20 minutes had passed) through the Band-Aid she had on,” Priest explained. “She told me, ‘Oh, yes, I cut my finger about 11 this morning but I’ve had this BandAid  on.’ There was no glove on her hand and the blood was still seeping through her Band-Aid. I thought of all the people that had been through the drive-thru and possibly had blood on their food as well.” 

After a couple of days had passed, Priest was contacted by Daniel Lipsky, who is a technical claims specialist working for Intrepid Direct Insurance, the company representing McDonald’s. 

Priest said he felt the McDonald’s manager was “well-trained” in getting him to give her back the bag and the food, as Lipsky had told him in a phone call that he had no case as the bag was never tested for the presence of blood. 

“In this initial phone call, he had mentioned that he has children and would be doing the same thing I was doing,” Priest explained. “I told Daniel  that I would keep the story out of the press, off social media and would not tell anyone if we could make an arrangement that would not need me to obtain legal representation and we could get a resolution fairly quickly. At this point, McDonalds has offered me $750.” 

Priest and his wife, Karlyn Najera, said they both feel like the money offered to them was “hush money,” and was “not acceptable.” 

In an email to Lipsky, Priest wrote, “At this point, we have [spoken] with an attorney and feel the minimum we could accept would be $20,000.” Priest added, “The offer of $750 is an insult, nothing less. It is a big corporation that does not understand the implications or the concern of a parent for his child. My son did not eat any of the fries, but he did drink from his soda. 

“With the blood being on almost everything in the bag, I feel there was blood on the lid of the drink as well and that blood was then in the soda.  Bloodborne pathogens may take years before symptoms arise.” 

Adding to the concern, Priest’s son began feeling unwell soon after. 

“My son did not feel well a couple of days after the incident, but the doctor could not confirm nor deny that it was from the blood. He hasn’t felt well a few times since then. Every time he comes to me and says, ‘Dad, I’m cold’ or ‘Dad, my tummy hurts,’ I immediately remember the blood. As a parent, this is something that I will worry about on a daily basis for years to come.  

“It isn’t something simple like a burn from a cup of hot cocoa or a scrape and torn pair of jeans from a slip on an icy entryway; those things are instant and will heal quickly,” Priest added. “This could literally be life threatening and may not show symptoms for years.” 

A manager at McDonald’s, who asked to not be named, declined comment on this matter as lawyers are already involved with the incident.