Patsfanin Philly

Courthouse News Service

Dennis Kucinich Sues House Cafeteria
By RYAN ABBOTT
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WASHINGTON (CN) - Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich says he suffered permanent injuries from biting an olive pit hidden in the sandwich wrap he bought at a House of Representatives cafeteria. He demands $150,000.
The former presidential hopeful sued Restaurant Associates, which operates the cafeteria in the Longworth Office Building, its parent company, Compass Group USA, and food suppliers Performance Food Group Co. and Foodbuy LLC.
Kucinich seeks damages for negligence, in Superior Court.
Kucinich says the cafeteria claimed that the sandwich had pitted olives, but after he bit the pit he "sustained serious and permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures, and has sustained other damages as well, including significant pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment."
The congressman says he was injured by the sandwich on April 17, 2008.
Kucinich demands $150,000 for four counts of negligence and breach of implied warranty.
He is represented by Andrew Young with Nurenberg Paris in Cleveland, Ohio.

chicowalker

Why is this a good place? Assuming the premise of the suit is true -- that they said the olives were pitted -- it sounds to me like it was their fault, and $150k doesn't sound outrageous to me if there were dental injuries and surgeries.

The Brandon Five

Not to mention "loss of enjoyment".

Really? 150 grand?

I need to slip on a sidewalk while they're all icy. Work is for suckers.

Patsfanin Philly

Then don't complain when you pay $15.00 for a sandwich. It's not a foreign object as a reasonable person could expect that on occasion, a cherry pie might have a cherry pit , an olive might still have the pit inside or hamburger might have some gristle inside. . We're not talking about a metal shard or a piece of plastic.
The incident happened three years ago and there is no specifics on the extent of the dental injuries. How much time and money will it take to defend this and who do you think pays in the long run? The consumer as the costs are passed along.
If he would have had a good steak sandwich, it likely wouldn't have happened......
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Above is not legal advice...yadda yadda...standard disclaimer......

chicowalker

"loss of enjoyment," whatever -- I assume that's lawyers.

But if this really caused that kind of damage -- multiple surgeries, etc.? I just don't think $150k is that much if it truly was a serious issue.

chicowalker

and if I bite into a hamburger and it causes serious damage, with multiple surgeries, etc., I don't think $150k is outrageous.

As you say, we need more specifics here, but I don't think this is anything crazy on the face of it. Given the lack of specifics, I don't know how you can just dismiss it as unreasonable.

(otoh, many places specifically say that their olives may have pits -- usually see it as a warning with salads. If somebody were to bite into their salad and bite a pit and then sue, I'd agree with you. but if you tell the consumer the olives are pitted, and the olive is in a sandwich where the consumer can't easily see it, it's your responsibility if the olive isn't pitted.)

DarrylS

Quite sure, "sustained serious and permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures, and has sustained other damages as well, including significant pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment." is legal terminology.

Tort reform is one of those things that is bandied about and is often a venue of the right, but to make a law that reacts to a specific person is often folly and has unintended consequences. Consider Texas and its tort reform, the insurance companies are saving money, the doctors are saving money.. but none of it has trickled down to the consumers.

Tort reform could be great thing if it benefitted the citizen, so far it has not.

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Patsfanin Philly

Actually it has in terms of access. States with tort reform have found that medical practitioners are not leaving the states in droves as they were before to go to other states. In many ( non reform) states, it is difficult, if not impossible to find ob-gyns to deliver babies or neurosurgeons to operate. Texas was one of them with a decrease in the number of practitioners pre-tort reform that has been reversed.

Doctors Flock to Texas After Tort Reform - Health Blog - WSJ

Mrs.PatsFanInVa

In terms of access, maybe....but people have to be able to afford insurance in order to access a doctor - regardless of how many doctors are available.

Is there anything which states insurance premiums or the cost of being ill have gone down as a result of tort reform in Texas?

The only thing I can find is a graph from 2008 which puts Texas directly in the middle of the other 49 states in terms of actual cost of a health insurance policy. 23 states cost less and 26 cost more. Which means, in essence, that it's not really making a dam bit of difference to the patients.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/me...ted_tables.pdf

Real World

$150,000?

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