CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) -- A Chesapeake woman is suing Verizon Wireless and you might find the reasoning behind the lawsuit shocking-- She says a belligerent customer service representative caused her to have a heart attack.
This lawsuit accuses a Verizon representative of being so negligent, the company should have to pay Angela Hawkins more than two-million-dollars. It says the emotional distress all started in the most basic way, with something people all over the world do every day-- call customer service.
Many of us have been in Angie Hawkins' shoes. The Chesapeake woman says she just wanted her $60 credit from Verizon Wireless. She proceeded as customers are directed and called customer service.
It was November 19th of last year.
The lawsuit says "the call began in an ordinary and routine manner." But as Hawkins tried to get back her money, she says the customer service rep began questioning her "in an aggressive manner." The back-and-forth went on. The rep, referred to as "John Doe," wouldn't help her, then left her on hold for "fifteen or twenty minutes" before a manager named "Jason" picked up.
The conversation took another turn. He shocked her with an accusation.
"He was under the impression that I had threatened to bring a gun to the call center and shoot every employee in the call center," Hawkins recalled.
The lawsuit says "these allegations were patently false and designed to intimidate and shock" Hawkins.
"I was just blindsided," she reacted. "I mean, my heart sunk. I felt like I was in a whirlwind because what a horrible thing to accuse somebody of."
The court records claim Hawkins "began experiencing physical distress including tightness in her chest and difficulty breathing." She even told the supervisor she was talking to "she thought she was having a heart attack," but the argument went on, her lawyer wrote.
Hawkins didn't get her credit, but instead, was admitted to the hospital.
"I had had a heart attack," she said. "She didn't even want me to drive across the street to the hospital."
According to the lawsuit, Hawkins "underwent emergency surgery and was hospitalized for at least four days." She'll "remain under a physician's care for the rest of her life."
"She's never had anything like this, and all of a sudden he went through this event and she had a heart attack," Hawkins' Attorney Jeffrey Brooke, who filed the lawsuit told 13News Now. "She's about 4'10", so when they say she threatened someone, that's a little bit hard to believe."
"Their customer service rep did a wrong, a horrible wrong in my book," Hawkins added.
Now, it will be up to a judge to decide if the issue warrants a jury trial and a ruling of more than two-million-dollars.
We reached out to Verizon Wireless for a statement on the case. A spokesperson tells 13News Now "we have no comment."
