PITTSBURGH – A woman who suffered three chipped and broken teeth as a result of broken ceramic shards in her salad has sued the restaurant where the incident took place.
Molly E. John of Ford City filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 3 versus Eat ‘N Park Hospitality Group, Inc., of Homestead.
John says she, her daughter and two granddaughters went out to lunch at Eat ‘N Park’s restaurant location on Sept. 18, 2018. After being seated, the plaintiff informed the server Renee that she would only be having the salad bar for lunch.
The plaintiff and her family proceeded to the salad bar, each selected the items that they wanted (as it is a self-service salad bar) and returned to their table, where they began to eat their lunches without incident.
“On the next bite, plaintiff bit down on something hard and sharp which she immediately assumed was hard plastic or glass. Plaintiff was alarmed and felt severe pain in her lower teeth, front teeth and gum area under her tongue. Plaintiff asked her daughter if there was any noticeable injury to her mouth; her daughter informed her that her front three teeth were chipped and broken,” the suit says.
“Plaintiff immediately informed the server that she was injured. The server returned to plaintiff’s table with the shift manager on duty, Nancy. Nancy apologized to the plaintiff and informed her that earlier that day, a young boy had broken one of the large dishes on the salad bar and it shattered. Moreover, Nancy stated that even though the staff claimed to have removed the pieces of the broken dish, fragments of the shattered dish must have fallen into the salad bin.”
Notwithstanding their attempts to clean and dispose of the broken glass, plaintiff was able to get several pictures with her iPhone. Various staff members also took the salad dish containing plaintiff’s salad and parsed through the items on the plate to “see what she put in her salad” and then continued to the salad bar to look in the bins.
The staff members apologized and paid for the plaintiff’s meal, and followed up by sending John a letter again apologizing for the injuries and included a $20 gift card, which the plaintiff did not use.
John’s teeth were chipped and broken and she suffered lacerations in her mouth. While plaintiff was discussing the incident with the shift manager, several staff began to clean up the glass while plaintiff was attempting to take pictures of it. Notwithstanding their attempts to clean and dispose of the broken glass, plaintiff was able to get several pictures with her iPhone.
The plaintiff made an emergency appointment to see her dentist, who confirmed that three of her teeth were badly chipped and broken. However, Hooks also confirmed that an expensive and complex corrective procedure would need to be performed in order to return the plaintiff’s teeth to a more aesthetically-pleasing condition.
“Since Dr. Hooks could not perform the procedure, plaintiff went to Armstrong Memorial Hospital because she feared she might have swallowed the shards of glass. Because of the injuries suffered in this incident, plaintiff’s teeth are still not completely repaired. Plaintiff has not yet had the dental procedure to fully repair her teeth, because it is cost-prohibitive and it will be a very consuming type of dental surgery,” per the suit.
For counts of negligence and strict/product liability, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, and a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Alexander H. Lindsay Jr. of the Lindsay Law Firm, in Butler.
The defendant has not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-009490
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com