The unidentified woman claimed that the incident caused her “emotional pain and suffering,” lost wages and medical expenses, according to the lawsuit filed Oct. 11 in Maricopa County Superior Court.
The food delivery gone woefully wrong took place on Jan. 17, 2022, when the woman placed an order with a Filiberto’s in metro Phoenix using DoorDash. The company assigned the delivery to Jeffrey Reid Jacobs, who snagged the bag of food in the restaurant’s drive-thru, according to the lawsuit.
Jacobs then allegedly pleasured himself and finished on the food.
“(He) parked in the parking lot of Filiberto’s, where he then proceeded to masturbate and ejaculate onto Plaintiff’s food order,” according to the lawsuit.
A Filiberto’s employee witnessed Jacobs’ alleged happy ending and tried to stop the Dasher — DoorDash’s term for its food runners — and return the contaminated food to the restaurant. Jacobs allegedly refused, drove away and delivered the food to the woman.
After Jacobs left the parking lot, the restaurant contacted DoorDash and requested that the company alert the women who ordered the food. DoorDash did just that — 40 minutes later, according to the lawsuit.
“By that time, Jeffrey Reid Jacobs had already delivered the contaminated food to Plaintiff, and she had ingested it,” the lawsuit said.
DoorDash is taking the allegations "extremely seriously," spokesperson Julian Crowley said in a statement provided to Phoenix New Times.
"We are sickened and disgusted by reports of this horrible incident. If true, what the perpetrator did was vile, abhorrent and inexcusable," Crowley said.
DoorDash said it removed a Phoenix delivery driver from its platform after a report of him contaminating food.
Tim Bonnemann via Flickr
DoorDash: Food tampering ‘extremely rare’
The company said it removed Jacobs from its platform."Make no mistake — food tampering of any kind is never, ever allowed. While reports of food tampering are extremely rare, we take each and every case seriously and urgently investigate," Crowley said.
DoorDash said it's not received "clear evidence" that the incident took place beyond what Filiberto's reported to the company. The delivery service isn't aware of any criminal charges filed against Jacobs. The Phoenix Police Department and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office did not locate any records concerning the incident.
Consuming the “adulterated food,” according to the lawsuit, caused the woman to undergo testing and take medication to “ward off potential diseases.”
“As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of any or all of the Defendants, Plaintiff suffered serious and disabling injuries and has incurred and will continue to incur expenses for her medical care,” the lawsuit stated.
The woman is seeking damages for pain, mental and emotional suffering, lost wages and medical expenses.
DoorDash said it "strictly prohibits" food tampering in its independent contractor agreement that Dashers agree to before making food deliveries for the company. Dashers also undergo a criminal background check and anyone listed on the National Sex Offender Registry is prohibited from delivering, the company said.
The suit was filed by Phoenix law firm Gallagher & Kennedy, which did not respond to questions about the case from New Times. DoorDash and Jacobs have up to 30 days to file a response to the suit.
