Comcast Store Manager Allegedly Used Pie-in-the-Face Ritual to Punish Low Sales
A lawsuit filed in Connecticut superior court claims a Comcast store manager in Plainville devised a monthly ritual where the lowest-performing salesperson was tied to a chair and had a cream pie smashed into their face by a higher-performing colleague. The complaint was filed on July 9 and has since been picked up by Law360 and The Desk.
The plaintiff, David Figueroa, was hired as a retail sales consultant on February 2, 2026. According to the lawsuit, store manager Sully Fuentes Peterson personally designed the scheme to drive up sales figures and boost customer survey scores. A wall chart in the back office allegedly tracked staff rankings and indicated who had already been subjected to the treatment or was next in line. The chart, a photo of which is included in the complaint, showed employees' first names alongside a month and a pie face emoji.
Figueroa says he witnessed a co-worker named Ty being tied up and struck in the face while Peterson watched and filmed. The lawsuit also describes a separate incident where an assistant sales manager called Jania was pied after receiving a poor customer survey score. Figueroa claims he saw footage of that assault on a colleague's phone.
Peterson allegedly ordered staff to both participate in and record the incidents. The lawsuit notes the assaults were not disclosed to Figueroa before he accepted the job. He resigned on February 27, arguing the working environment left him with no real choice, making it a constructive discharge.
Before quitting, Figueroa called regional manager Maranda Cody to raise his concerns. She asked him to put it in writing via text. He says he never got a response.
Figueroa is seeking compensatory damages for economic losses and emotional distress. Comcast's response was the standard litigation holding pattern: 'zero tolerance for harassment or humiliation,' disagrees with the complaint, won't comment further while the case is live. The company did not confirm whether Peterson remains employed.
Comcast's cable division is not exactly in a strong position to absorb this kind of publicity. The business has been haemorrhaging customers, and as recently as April 2025 company president Mike Cavanagh publicly admitted they were 'not winning in the marketplace.' A five-year price lock and the removal of data caps followed. Apparently, someone in Plainville took the pressure to perform rather literally.