A Tennessee man alleging that he broke his partial dentures while eating at Pizza Hut has just won US$2,400, plus trial costs and interests, in a personal injury suit filed against the chain restaurant.
Everett Chatman claims he was enjoying a salad when “excessively hard croutons” caused harm to his dental work, according to
Roane County News.
He initially tried to settle out of court, but Pizza Hut’s insurance company had no interest in participating.
“We tried to work it out with their insurance company, but they never wanted to talk,” Chatman’s attorney, Mark Foster, told the newspaper. “So we went ahead and filed.”
Foster argued that Pizza Hut caused personal injuries and damage to his client’s specially fitted partial denture as the result of “negligently serving at defendant’s restaurant excessively hard croutons.”
Other notable fast food restaurant settlements, as outlined by PropertyCasualty360, include:
- In 2005, David Scheiding discovered an inch-long sliver of human flesh on his Arby’s sandwich, which had been severed by a worker chopping lettuce. He was awarded US$50,000.
- A 1993 E. Coli outbreak at Jack-in-the-Box sickened 600 customers and caused the death of four children. The incident cost the fast food chain more than US$15.6 million.
- A McDonald’s customer sued the chain for US$50,000 when she bit into a McChicken sandwich and cut her mouth on glass shards. It is believed that a nearby coffee pot exploded from overheating.
- In one of the most frequently referenced lawsuits in North American pop culture, Stella Liebeck sought damages for burns sustained as the result of her coffee temperature being “too hot.” She was initially awarded US$2.86 million, but that figure was reduced to less than US$600,000.
When asked whether Chatman was satisfied with his own US$2,400 Pizza Hut award, his attorney answered, “I think so.”
