In Omaha, Nebraska, a police officer and his family won $40,000 in a lawsuit against a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant after it served them food tainted with the saliva and urine of one of the employees. Officer Keith Andrew and his two sons were sickened by the tainted food and, for some bizarre reason, the lawyers for the restaurant thought that this would be a good case to fight in court. Now, “thinking outside the bun” will have a lasting and different meaning for Taco Bell and “finger lickin’ good” for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Andrew’s four-year-old son became violently ill with gastroenteritis and dehydration after eating the food. Yet, the owner North Platte-based Mid Plains Food and Lodging insisted on a jury trial. KFC counsel stands by the decision to try the case involving a restaurant in Sidney, Neb. — population 6000.
The issue is presumably the scope of employment and respondeat superior. Casey Diedrich, pleaded guilty last year to doing the act and fined a whopping $100 under the Nebraska Pure Food Act. The family claims that it was an act targeting police officers. However, when other employees told management about seeing the contamination, the managers did not tell the family. Remarkably, Diedrich was later fired but not for the acts leading to this lawsuit.
For the full story, click here.
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…”chew” on that for a while.
zakimar
1, July 24, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I don’t know why anyone eats at those “restaurants”.
Hunger.
Most blue collar workers don’t have a choice. Time constraints. Accessibility. Financial constraints. Thats why its so important to send strong messages to these resturaunts, who hire more and more young workers who just don’t have an inkling of work ethic, and in many cases punish customers by fouling food.
This is just one, of many cases reported.
And those are just the ones that got caught.
And its hard to get caught.
I don’t know why anyone eats at those “restaurants”. Urine and saliva are the least of their concerns. When you pay minimum wage to disgruntled teens, what do you think will happen? This guy was one of the few that were caught.
I would worry more about salmonella, hepatitis, listeria and maybe the occasional botulism.
Ok, I found it. The case took place in Wisconsin, just last month. I imagine you guys had a thread on it. It looks like Wisconsin takes this stuff more seriously, as well they should.
Ex-cook faces jail after putting hair in steak
Restaurant worker admits tampering with dissatisfied customer’s meal
AP;updated 5:30 a.m. ET, Sat., June. 21, 2008
WEST BEND, Wis. – A former restaurant cook has pleaded guilty to inserting hairs in a steak before giving it to a dissatisfied customer.
Ryan Kropp, 24, of West Bend, Wis., was fired along with another cook after the incident Feb. 23 at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant.
Kropp was charged in Washington County Circuit Court with a felony of placing foreign objects in edibles, carrying up to 3 1/2 years in prison
….uh….yea…. I’ll have a bucket of spicy urination wings, some piss poppers, and throw in a large cup of salivated slaw.
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And make that to “go”.
That is one secret recipe that I wish had stayed secret!
Excuse me. Col Harland’s.
Well I’ll say one thing about this case.
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Colonel Harmon’s “secret recipe” isn’t secret anymore.
This book is about fast food from the inside. It’s funny, light reading: Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan.
Gyges:
“My wife and I have the same conversation about four times a year. She says “I want KFC.” I say “No you don’t, you just think you do.””
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I think she actually said “my cardiologist wants me have some KFC.”
jonathanturley
1, July 15, 2008 at 11:28 am
I agree that the damages seemed quite low under these circumstances, particularly given the failure to warn.
JT
Wasn’t there a recent case where someone went to jail over this. I believe it was due to pubic hairs being included in a steak served to a customer who complained about his meal?
I think the cook was charged with a felony if memory serves me correct.
whooliebacon
1, July 15, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Wa(o)nton, bun, saturated, trans-fat, sodium, greasy, to(a)rt. Yall makin’ me hungry.
Good point.
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I’m guessing the Urine was most likely the most nutrional ingredient in that meal.
My wife and I have the same conversation about four times a year. She says “I want KFC.” I say “No you don’t, you just think you do.”
Wa(o)nton, bun, saturated, trans-fat, sodium, greasy, to(a)rt. Yall makin’ me hungry.
JT:
In Virginia, as you likely know, we have something akin to strict liability for tainted prepared food. This case hardly seems like negligence, and probably should have been brought as an intentional tort. I think taking and servicing a food order and receiving payment are acts in furtherance of the employer’s (Colonel Greasy) interests and likely would get around the superseding, intervening cause or outside the scope of employment defenses.
At least the urine sterilized the saliva, but the rest of it…What is this company thinking? Yuk indeed!
Mespo:
I agree that the damages seemed quite low under these circumstances, particularly given the failure to warn.
JT
No I mean just eating that food in the first place. Between the saturated fat, trans-fats, and the sodium you might be better off with the “foreign” substances.
Didn’t I see this scenario in a movie? Mespo,I think it may be assumption of some risk, like bad food, unhealthy food, but urine and saliva? I agree that this is not a good case to be bringing to a jury in a small jusrisdiction. Yuk!
Chicy Nebraskans. Where’s the punitives for intentional or at least wanton conduct? KFC should be ashamed but do you think it assumption of risk for adults to eat there in the first place?