The family of a McDonald’s worker who was fatally stabbed after her shift in 2013 has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming her employer let the woman’s murderer loiter in the restaurant hours before her death in Glen Ellyn.
Gloria Araujo filed the lawsuit Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court against McDonald’s and Myron Ester, the man charged with murder in connection with her daughter’s death.
The body of 33-year-old Linda Valez, of Wheaton, was discovered Sept. 28, 2013, buried in a forested area of Panfish Park in Glen Ellyn with 34 stab wounds to her neck and torso.
Four days earlier, Valez, a mother of seven, went to work at a McDonald’s restaurant at 445 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Glen Ellyn from about 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., according to the lawsuit.
For the entirety of her shift, Valez’s ex-boyfriend, Ester, was allowed to loiter in the restaurant, despite not having purchased any food, the suit claims. Restaurant employees and managers saw Ester staring at Valez “continuously and menacingly” and “yelling, swearing, and verbally abusing her while she worked.”
The suit alleges McDonald’s employees also heard Ester threaten to kill Valez.
At the end of her shift, the suit claims, Ester was seen “accosting her in the doorway and parking lot” and forcing Valez to accompany him to Panfish Park.
When Valez hadn’t been seen for two days, Araujo went to the McDonald’s to ask about her daughter’s whereabouts and the manager told her Valez had been seen leaving the restaurant with a strange man on Sept. 24, the suit alleges.
Ester, 47, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Valez’s death, according to the DuPage County sheriff’s office. He is being held without bond at the DuPage County Jail.
McDonald’s had a responsibility to protect its employee and shouldn’t have allowed Ester to remain in the restaurant when he didn’t eat, the suit alleges.
“As a result of McDonald’s breach of its duty to maintain a safe restaurant environment, Myron Ester was permitted to repeatedly accost, abduct and finally murder Ms. Valez,” the suit claims.
The two-count suit claims premises liability against McDonald’s and battery against Ester. Araujo is seeking at least $100,000 in damages.
“We still feel the loss of Linda today, and our thoughts continue to be with her family and friends,” according to a statement from Steve Thatcher, a Director of Operations for McDonald’s Greater Chicago Region.
“However, as this is a pending legal matter it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” Thatcher said.
