Man sues restaurant, says needle was in food

[Turner]

Saw this while browsing www.snopes.com, the urban legends site.

I just want to know why he waited so long to file a claim. Sounds like a weak case to me.

Man sues restaurant, says needle was in food
Thu, Jan 8, 2004

LETRELL D. CRITTENDEN
Observer-Dispatch
NEW YORK -- A Yorkville man claims a McDonald's sandwich he bit into at a Saratoga Springs restaurant contained a piece of a hypodermic needle.

On Wednesday, the attorney for Daniel Cozza, New York-based lawyer Seth A. Harris, filed an unspecified lawsuit against the fast-food giant in the New York State Supreme Court of Manhattan.

Mary Scanlan, an Albany-based public relations consultant for McDonald's, said Wednesday she "has no information" on the topic and was "not aware of it yet."

According to Harris, the incident took place on May 20, 2002, in McDonald's located on Route 50 in Sarasota Springs.

Cozza, 47, of Clark Street, had bitten into a chicken sandwich he purchased at the store when "he felt a strong pain in his tongue," Harris said.

After complaining about the pain to store workers, Cozza went to a Saratoga hospital to complain about the pain, Harris said.

X-rays taken at the hospital revealed an object, Harris said, but doctors were unable to determine what it was.

The next day, Harris said surgery was performed on Cozza's tongue in Utica at Faxton/St. Luke's Healthcare, and "the tip of a hypodermic needle was found," Harris said.

No phone calls to the restaurant in question were answered.

Although the incident took place more than a year ago, the lawsuit wasn't brought against McDonald's until Wednesday.

That's because Cozza only retained Harris last month, the attorney said.

No mention of the hospital visit is within the brief. Harris said that is common practice in his office.

Harris also said Cozza did not keep the sandwich, leaving it at the McDonald's.

"He just left it there. I don't know what (the employees) did with it," Harris said. "He was more concerned for his health."

Harris did not disclose the amount Cozza was seeking, but said it could increase if his client tests positive for HIV or any other diseases.

Thus far, test have revealed no illnesses, Harris said.

Cozza, reached on his cellular phone in New York, had no comment.

 

[GenMarshall]

Whats next, a man sues the food establishment because he found a button in his soup.

 

[Drewcifer]

People try to scam restaurants this way all the time, if not for a lawsuit then for a free meal. They sneak in bugs or gum and such and put it in the food when they are almost done. A waitress I worked with caught a woman red handed. She saw the woman taking a dead fly out of a tupperware container in her purse and puting it on her food. A customer saw it as well. The customer then waived the manager over and demanded that her meal be comped. She was removed by the police.

 

[The Person]

Look at my sig for comment.

 

[useless]

lol

 

[Simon Darkshade]

That'll teach them to eat food not prepared by trusted devoted pageboys.

 

[WillJ]

Originally posted by CivGeneral
Whats next, a man sues the food establishment because he found a button in his soup.

Don't you know the possible health effects of having contact with other people's needles?

Originally posted by Drewcifer
People try to scam restaurants this way all the time, if not for a lawsuit then for a free meal. They sneak in bugs or gum and such and put it in the food when they are almost done. A waitress I worked with caught a woman red handed. She saw the woman taking a dead fly out of a tupperware container in her purse and puting it on her food. A customer saw it as well. The customer then waived the manager over and demanded that her meal be comped. She was removed by the police.

Yes, that is quite common, but this is different. While sticking a used bandaid or something in your food just before you finish your meal is a nice little trick, I'd find it odd if someone wanted to go so far as to hurt their tongues. (Then again, stranger things have happened...)