An Oklahoma man accused nearly three decades ago of bludgeoning his former foster mother to death and setting her home ablaze found work at an area McDonald’s following his release from state custody, but “almost immediately” began tormenting a teenage colleague after she took a job at the same location, according to a federal lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
Chakota P. Nelson, who was then 16, says in her complaint that the constant harassment by coworker Roy Curtis Zornes II – which began with unsolicited neck, back and shoulder rubs and escalated from there – ultimately led to a “violent encounter” by the restaurant’s frappé machine.
In March 2010, Zornes, now 39, was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree arson, and first-degree rape, a review of state court records shows.
Five days prior, police discovered the charred remains of Jane Bullard, 60, in the living room of her burned-out Johnston County home, and soon zeroed in on Zornes and two accomplices.
Bullard, who taught psychology and sociology at Murray State College and had fostered Zornes for about three years, was raped and beaten with a vase, resulting in 16 head lacerations and five skull fractures, according to a coroner’s report. It said Bullard had severe burns over much of her body and carbon monoxide in her bloodstream.
Zornes went to Bullard’s house to ask her for a loan, and allegedly became violent when she said she had no money on hand. The trio then torched the residence, stealing Bullard’s jewelry, including a necklace with her grandchildren’s birthstones on it, along with other valuables, on their way out, police said.
The next year, a judge declared Zornes mentally unfit to stand trial and ordered him civilly committed to a secure psychiatric hospital. He was released more than a decade later, and took a job at a McDonald’s in Purcell, about 35 miles south of Oklahoma City.
Attorney David Keesling, who is representing Nelson, said his client “deserved protection” from Zornes, but that she was instead “ignored until the situation became intolerable.”
“The most shocking aspect of this case is not simply Roy Zornes’s history,” Keesling told The Independent. “It is also shocking that a 16-year-old girl repeatedly complained that an adult male co-worker was putting his hands on her, grabbing her, cornering her, harassing her, and openly bragging about his criminal history in an effort to terrify and intimidate her, yet management did little or nothing to stop it.”
Much of the harassment, which went on for “months and months,” was captured on McDonald’s security cameras, according to Keesling.
When an employer learns that a teenage employee is being subjected to unwanted physical contact in the workplace, they have a duty to intervene “immediately and effectively,” Keesling went on. The fact that the culprit, in this instance, was someone with a deeply violent past, only adds to the outrage, Keesling said.
“McDonald’s spent decades telling America ‘I’m Lovin’ It,’” Keesling said. “For Ms. Nelson, the message from management wasn’t ‘I’m Lovin’ It.’ It was, ‘We’re Ignoring It.’”
Keesling and co-counsel Tim Kittle filed suit on Nelson’s behalf May 28 and served franchisee MRG Restaurants Inc., which owns the location where she and Zornes worked alongside one another, on June 1.
Listed phone numbers for Zornes were out of service on Wednesday, and he was unable to be reached. A lawyer for MRG Restaurants and a McDonald’s spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Nelson began working at the McDonald’s in Purcell on August 11, 2022, according to her complaint. It says the teen soon found herself working alongside the recently released Zornes, who was 36 at the time.
Hiring ex-offenders can present certain challenges, but they also have lower turnover rates than non-offenders, and, more broadly, hiring them is actually a net benefit to the economy, according to advocates.
“Six or seven years ago, employers looked at you like maybe you had a screw loose when you talked about hiring ex-offenders,” Joyce White Vance, then-U.S. attorney for the Northern District in Alabama, told The Guardian back in 2015. “Now it’s much more part of the mainstream conversation.”
Some of the companies that hire people with felony records include Caterpillar, Motorola, American Express, FedEx, UnderArmour, Boeing, and, of course, McDonald’s.
Zornes, however, was problematic from the get-go, Nelson’s complaint contends.
“Almost immediately after [Nelson] began her employment at the McDonald’s, Roy Curtis Zornes II began to harass [her]… without her consent; this included uninvited back and shoulder rubs,” the complaint states.
Nelson told Zornes to stop, but he didn’t, according to the complaint. A short time later, while Zornes and Nelson were working together, it claims he “repeatedly grabbed the back of [Nelson’s] neck while stating to [her], ‘You’re boy crazy.’” Nelson again told Zornes to cut it out, and reported the incident to her supervisors, who said they would speak to Zornes and notify higher-ups, the complaint goes on.
But, it says, Zornes’ come-ons persisted, and Nelson kept reporting him to restaurant management, who allegedly did nothing. A few days after Valentine’s Day 2023, Nelson and her cousin stopped by the McDonald’s during her off-duty hours for a bite, the complaint continues.
While they were seated at a table, Zornes walked over and pawed at Nelson, whose cousin yelled at Zornes and pushed him away, according to the complaint. The cousin was then “chastised” by a manager for “the manner in which she spoke to Zornes,” the complaint states.
Soon, Zornes would ratchet up the intensity, according to the complaint. That April, during a shift, Zornes “cornered [Nelson] near the frappé machine,” then grabbed her wrist and refused to let go, the complaint says.
“[Nelson] was forced to physically struggle with Zornes to force her wrist from his grasp,” it alleges. “The encounter left a discernible bruise on [Nelson’s] wrist.”
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