Ex-Garrett Popcorn Worker Tries to Tie FDA Complaint to Firing

A former employee of CaramelCrisp LLC, which does business as iconic Chicago brand Garrett Popcorn Shops, attempted to revive her retaliation lawsuit Monday, saying there was significant circumstantial evidence she’d been terminated because she made an anonymous complaint to the Food and Drug Administration.

The timing of Aisha Putnam’s firing, the fact that multiple other food-safety complainants also were terminated, and an “ambiguous” statement that an ex-coworker may have told supervisors about the FDA discussions all are enough that Putnam should have been able to present that argument to jurors, attorney Dan Asonye argued before the Seventh Circuit.

“All of ...