Chester County woman sues Target over hand stab by shattered bowl

A Chester County woman who claims she suffered deep lacerations to her hand from pieces of a shattered

bowl she picked up while browsing at a Wilmington, Del., Target department store is suing.

Tara Calabrese, of Westtown, Pa., filed suit in federal court against the store and the company that manufactured the bowl, saying that the cuts caused permanent damage to her hand.

The suit says that Calabrese was shopping in the Target located on the Brandywine Parkway in Wilimington, Del., on Sept. 6, 2013. She picked up a glass serving bowl manufactured by Pin Jang Enterprise, which is based in Minnesota.

The complaint says that as soon as Calabrese handled the bowl, it unexpectedly shattered. The glass shards deeply cut the plaintiff's hand, getting down to the bone on her right pinky finger. She was taken to Paoli Memorial Hospital, where doctors determined that the shards fractured her bone and caused nerve damage. Calabrese needed five sutures and a splint before discharged.

The injuries caused Calabrese, a nurse, to miss significant work time. She consulted a hand surgeon in October 2013, who conducted digital nerve exploration and nerve wrapping the finger. However, the hand still has not fully recovered, the suit says.

Calabrese seeks damages in excess of $150,000 as compensation for alleged negligence on the part of Target and Pin Jang. She claims both companies are responsible for allowing a defective product to be manufactured and put on display where customers could handle it.

The plaintiff is represented by Thomas Lynam of Villari, Lentz & Lynam, L.L.C., based in Philadelphia.

The federal case ID number is 2:14-cv-04187-GP.