Nguyet Le entered the freezer and the door shut behind her. It is believed she was trapped there for six hours before she was discovered frozen to the floor.
An Arby’s general manager in Louisiana was found dead after being trapped inside a walk-in freezer.
Nguyet Le entered the freezer and the door shut behind her. Her family says the plunger, which is designed to open the freezer door from the inside, did not work, and the backup emergency button had been disconnected.
There was no one else in the restaurant when Le was locked in the freezer.
The temperature in the freezer was -20 degrees. It is believed she was trapped there for six hours before she was discovered frozen to the floor.
Le’s family’s attorney, Paul Skrabanek, says the freezer was known to be a problem.
“Folks would get trapped in this freezer and other workers would have to go let them out,” Skrabanek says.
Forensic scientist Howard Cannon says 60 people die from walk-in freezer incidents per year. He says some freezers do not have basic safety features, like a panic button to inform anyone outside of the freezer when someone is stuck inside.
Cannon says that emergency plungers may not work properly as they can get off-center and cause the door not to open.
“Simple procedures can save lives,” Cannon says.
Le’s family is suing Arby’s and the local franchise. Both deny any wrongdoing.
