Frances L. Slyman, 44, was charged with misdemeanor assault after police were called to the Giant Eagle at 3440 Center Road about 9 p.m.
According to a police report, Slyman ordered two steak filets. She asked that they be cut smaller than usual, explaining that she was on a diet.
When the employee handed over the steaks, witnesses told police that Slyman removed the cellophane from the steaks and threw them at the employee, shouting that the employee had called her “fat.” One of the steaks struck the employee in the eye and the other on her shoulder.
Slyman told police that her husband said he overheard the employee make a derogatory comment about his weight.
The employee denied commenting on the man’s weight but said that as she was filling the order, she chatted with another employee about how “everyone is on a diet these days.”
A witness who was waiting for an order at the deli counter told police she didn’t hear the employee say anything to provoke the attack.
