PHILADELPHIA – A Chester County man alleges that while at work last year, he both cracked his tooth and swallowed a foreign object he found in his package of Frito-Lay potato chips.
Grant Folkert of West Grove initially filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 29 versus Frito-Lay, Inc., of Plano, Texas.
The case was later removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Nov. 3, due to the amount of damages in question and diversity of citizenship between the parties.
“On Aug. 12, 2019, the plaintiff, Grant Folkert, was working at his summer job at Giant Foods, where the incident in question occurred. During a break, Folkert purchased from the store a small bag of Frito-Lay potato chips to eat. After purchasing the small bag of Frito-Lay potato chips, Folkert returned to the break room where he began to eat the potato chips,” the suit says.
“While eating the Frito-Lay potato chips, Folkert bit into a hard, foreign object which had been in the bag. As a result of biting into the hard, foreign object in question, Folkert fractured his tooth, experienced immediate pain and in his panic, swallowed the hard, foreign object. The hard, foreign object had apparently been in the bag of potato chips since the time of its packaging by the defendant, Frito-Lay, Inc.”
Folkert believes he is entitled to full and complete compensation for his injuries.
For counts of negligence, breach of warranty and strict liability, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, plus a trial by jury.
The plaintiff is represented by Suzanne Tighe of Haggerty Goldberg Schleifer & Kupersmith, in Philadelphia.
The defendant is represented by Randy C. Greene of Dugan Brinkmann Maginnis & Pace, also in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-05482
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 200901775
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com