NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Nashville restaurant owner said they are pressing charges after a bachelorette party behaved badly, defied health orders, and coughed on an employee.

“I never thought that would happen here in Nashville, I never thought that, let alone in our establishment,” Mikey Corona, co-owner of the Mockingbird, told News 2.

Corona said one of his industry nightmares came true Saturday night after a member of the upset bachelorette party intentionally coughed on his assistant manager.

“It was intentional, it was malice, it was not done in any sort of accidental way. We knew exactly what that meant,” Corona explained.

He said the woman coughed three times while directing the cough with her hand toward his employee.

He said the group of 10 stomped out after not being allowed to move their tables together, a violation of the current Phase Two health orders. Additionally, some in the bachelorette party refused to wear a mask, he said, but coughing on his employee elevated the disruption to another level.

“That’s the equivalent of spitting on somebody or slapping somebody, let alone during the pandemic.”

Now the quaint, locally owned restaurant is dealing with the repercussions. Corona said they are down an employee when the restaurant is already struggling to stay afloat with the city’s current orders.

“She is now going to be quarantined, she’s got to get tested, she can’t be around her family. As a business, we are having to pay for her not to be here, as well, and so it’s just a struggle all around and it’s not necessary. You know we are all about fun in this town, but when you come in with your bedazzled cowboy boots and you stomp on us like we are a mat that’s not ok. That’s where you have to draw the line because we are also human and you should respect that first and foremost,” explained Corona.

A reporter with News 2’s affiliate station in Mobile, Alabama spoke with two of the girls in the bachelorette party who deny the allegations, saying they are consulting with a lawyer.

Metro police are investigating the case as a simple assault.