When Alison Cozzi was eating the salad, she sensed something wasn’t right. It did not take long for her to realize that she was chewing on a portion of a human finger that had been mixed into the salad.
It so happened that earlier in the day a manager working at the Chop’t Creative Salad Co. restaurant in Mount Kisco, New York was chopping arugula and chopped off a portion of her left pointer finger. The employee left the restaurant and went to the hospital.
However, in her complaint in a New York State court against the restaurant, Cozzi asserts that the contaminated arugula was left on the service line and served to customers, including Cozzi.
Cozzi, of Greenwich, Connecticut, filed suit for damages in Westchester County Supreme Court this week for the incident that took place in April.
According to the complaint, her claim is supported by an investigation of the incident and a fine levied by the Westchester County Department of Health. The restaurant did not contest the findings and paid the fine, the complaint says.
The Associated Press reported that county records show that Chop’t was fined $900.
Cozzi alleges that the restaurant was “reckless, careless and negligent in providing food that was contaminated and adulterated with a foreign object consisting of a portion of a human finger; in failing to properly inspect the food before it was served to customers; in failing to properly coordinate the preparation and serving of the food; in failing to properly and adequately ensure that the portion of the human finger would not contaminate the food defendants were preparing and serving to customers such as plaintiff; in failing to have proper policies and procedures; in failing to have properly trained personnel; in failing to properly supervise personnel; in failing to have adequate signs in the food preparation area; in failing to properly inspect the food preparation areas; and in being otherwise negligent.”
In seeking unspecified monetary damages, Cozzi says she has suffered various injuries including shock, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, migraines, neck and shoulder impairments, and anxiety as a result of the alleged negligence and statutory violations.
The restaurant has not yet replied to the complaint.
Topics Lawsuits
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