Punishing your fellow employee for being a notorious food stealer by lacing a soda with laxatives is one (awful) thing, but you better make darn sure a customer doesn’t end up with said drink. Unfortunately for one Family Dollar shopper in Kansas City, Mo., the employee-on-employee pranking spilled over into her life when she bought the Coke in question.

The woman filed a lawsuit against the store after she became ill as a result of drinking the Coke, reports the Kansas City Star. Cops classified the incident as aggravated assault and say it all started when an assistant store manager decided to prank his coworker. Said coworker had apparently been stealing food from the communal refrigerator, and everyone knows that kind of egregious theft can’t go unpunished.

Sounds like the assistant manager went to great lengths to carry out the prank:

The assistant manager allegedly confessed to officers that he put 25 laxative tablets into each of two plastic bottles of Coca-Cola and resealed the caps with glue to hide any tampering. The assistant manager then allegedly put the bottles into an employee refrigerator at the rear of the store, “with the intention that (the other employee) would take and drink both of the Cokes, even though they were not his drinks,” according to a police report.

However, the target of the prank noticed the tablets and moved the bottles to a cooler in the front of the store that’s intended for customers. Yeah. Not cool.

Later that day a 54-year-old woman bought one of the bottles. While drinking the soda, she noticed the remnants of the pills and returned to the store to complain. She got sick while there and had to go to the hospital for treatment. She alleges in the lawsuit that she suffered “violent consequences” and “severe mental and physical injuries” after drinking the Coke.

For all her troubles, she says Family Dollar called to apologize and offer a $200 gift card. For what, more soda?

Both the employees involved in the stunt were arrested, but no charges have been filed yet.

A Family Dollar spokesman couldn’t comment on the ongoing litigation, but released a statement saying: “Please know we take the safety of our customers and team members very seriously and we do not tolerate any actions that put their safety in jeopardy.”

Lawsuit: Employee rift led to KC store selling laxative-tainted Coke [Kansas City Star]

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