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Woman claims Verizon Wireless customer service caused heart attack

Angela Hawkins of Chesapeake, Va., has sued Verizon Communications alleging a customer service rep got “aggressive,” causing her to have a heart attack; she wants $2 million in damages, according to the lawsuit.

Hawkins reportedly called Verizon Wireless’ customer service on Nov. 19 to request a $60 credit to her account and the interaction “began in an ordinary and routine manner.”

After what Hawkins described as “aggressive” questioning, she was put on the line with a manager. That’s where things turned.

Hawkins was interviewed by a local ABC affiliate and recounted how things went with the manager: “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 denies that allegation and said, “I was just blindsided. I mean, my heart sunk. I felt like I was in a whirlwind because what a horrible thing to accuse somebody of.”

That’s when Hawkins apparently had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital for surgery.

“She’s never had anything like this, and all of a sudden she went through this event and she had a heart attack,” her attorney Jeffrey Brooke told ABC.

“She’s about 4 feet 10 inches,  so when they say she threatened someone, that’s a little bit hard to believe,” he said.

It’s not clear the status of the $60 account credit.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Sean Kinney, Editor in Chief
Sean Kinney, Editor in Chief
Sean focuses on multiple subject areas including 5G, Open RAN, hybrid cloud, edge computing, and Industry 4.0. He also hosts Arden Media's podcast Will 5G Change the World? Prior to his work at RCR, Sean studied journalism and literature at the University of Mississippi then spent six years based in Key West, Florida, working as a reporter for the Miami Herald Media Company. He currently lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.