A woman who bought a bottle of Nestle’s Pure Life Water says she was threatened repeatedly by a company customer service representative who allegedly told her she would “slice her throat” and “watch the blood drain from you” after the woman called with questions about the product.
As a result of the alleged threats, Shimrit Ellis, the customer, filed suit against Pamela Vaughan, the customer service rep, and the company, Nestle USA, as well as Answernet Inc., in Philadelphia.
According to court documents, Ellis claims she bought the water on Aug. 5, 2012, then called Nestle’s customer service department to inquire about health issues related to fluoride.
“Shortly thereafter, plaintiff, Shimrit Ellis, started to receive very graphic and violent death threats by phone from an unknown female,” the complaint states.
“By way of example, inter alia, some of the treats [sic] that were made to plaintiff by phone were, ‘I’m going to slice your throat;’ ‘I finally found where you live and watched you go to work. You’re going to die;’ and ‘People are going to watch the blood drain from you when I stab you with a knife.’”
Ellis said she was receiving calls like that at least three times per week for nearly a month. Finally, she decided to report them to the Philadelphia Police Department.
At that point, says the complaint, “Plaintiff’s phone records were subpoenaed by the police and the calls were traced to Nestle Tollhouse Call Center, which revealed they were being made by a female employee, later identified as Pamela Vaughan, to whom plaintiff lodged the original complaint about the ingredient/additive, fluoride, being in the bottled water.”