I have some difficulty accepting this at face value.
Assuming he's talkng about the main entry door handle (and not the stall), those handles are usually stainless-steel levers, institutional type and well made. But even if it did happen as he said -- surely an employee could have been found and, failing that, someone with a cellphone to dial 9-11.
But alas...the hot-coffee-on-the-leg thing has been played out.
well, we don’t know what this door handle/lock looked like or how it functioned. Apparently it was “antiquated” whatever that means. I have been in some restrooms that had strange piece of crap door handles with incorporated keyless button locks.