ELKVIEW, WV (WOWK) — A Charleston, West Virginia, man who was the victim of a stabbing at a McDonald’s in Elkview has filed a lawsuit against the franchise owner.

According to court documents, Plaintiff Anthony Woods is filing a lawsuit against J. W. Ebert Corporation. It says the corporation is the owner of the McDonald’s at Crossing Mall in Elkview.

The suit alleges that the suspect in the stabbing, 31-year-old Richard Thornton, of Elkview, was unfit to be hired after being originally charged with attempted murder in 2019 after he pulled out a knife and tried to stab two paramedics. The attempted murder charges were dismissed after Thornton accepted a plea agreement to dismiss those charges and seek mental health treatment, according to court records. At the time of the stabbing incident, Thornton was already on probation for the 2019 incident.

It argues that the employer is liable for Thornton’s actions because he was “acting within the scope of his employment, with his employee work clothes on, while on the subject McDonald’s premises.”

Court documents say the incident caused the plaintiff “traumatic, serious and disabling injuries and damages.”

According to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched to the McDonald’s at the 100 block of Crossings Mall on Jan. 17, after they were told that a man had been robbed and injured with a knife in the restroom.

According to a release, the victim was followed by a McDonald’s employee into the restroom where he was robbed and stabbed in the face and neck.

The victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Thornton was arrested near the Speedway on the 1000 block of Little Sandy Road. KCSO says that Thornton was still in possession of the victim’s wallet and a bloody fixed-blade knife.

Thornton was charged with robbery with a deadly weapon and malicious wounding.

Thornton waived his preliminary hearing on Jan. 27. His case will now go to a Kanawha County grand jury.