Tiny Sewing Needle Results in Lawsuit Reports Arkansas Injury Lawyer

Little Rock, AR (Law Firm Newswire) May 17, 2011 – Truth is stranger than fiction. That was certainly the case when a woman found a 2-inch long needle in her food while eating at a restaurant.

“When you hear about this kind of story, it makes you think twice about eating out. Sure, these days you potentially deal with contaminated, poorly cooked or spoiled foods, along with other cooking disasters, but no one would have ever dreamed they would find a 2-inch sewing needle in a plate of mashed potatoes and ribs,” said Michael G. Smith, an Arkansas injury lawyer and Arkansas accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Arkansas.

In a story right out of a bad horror movie, a woman went out for an evening meal at a local restaurant and was mid-way through a plate of ribs and mashed potatoes when something sharp pierced her tongue. It turned out to be a 2-inch, razor sharp sewing needle. “Certainly not something you would ever want to experience for any reason,” Smith said. “On pulling the needle out of her tongue, the workers at the restaurant whipped it out of sight. Later, when the family went back to get the needle to get it tested, the management refused to turn it over.”

The woman eventually filed a lawsuit when it took the restaurant 52 days to send the needle to a lab to be tested. “Thankfully, it was clean for hepatitis, HIV and other potential infections, but the nursing mother had to stop giving her baby breast milk in the meantime, just in case,” Smith said. “Not to mention spend 52 days or longer with the anxiety of wondering if she had contracted anything as a result of having her tongue involuntarily pierced by the needle.”

The twist to this story is that it is believed that the needle belonged to one of the chefs on staff and he used it to clean his marijuana pipe. And, not only that, but that it appeared that the rest of the staff and management were aware of the chef’s ongoing use of the drug. Talk about a bizarre twist to a personal injury story.

“Would this woman get compensation in a court? Likely, given the nature of the event and the concern about having contracted an infectious disease. Would the restaurant be held liable for negligence? Possibly, yes. Would the chef be held liable for negligence? Most definitely, unless he could prove that it was not his needle and that someone else used it. Really, who smokes marijuana and cleans their pipe out while they are cooking?” Smith asked.

Personal injury cases are not always straightforward, as this one clearly demonstrates. What is clear is that any negligent action that one person engages in may have an impact on another. For those serving others, in any capacity, they must offer their product in a safe manner and if they do not do so, there are typically consequences that they must take responsibility for in the final analysis.

Learn more by contacting Arkansas personal injury lawyer, Michael Smith at http://www.arkansaslawhelp.com.

Michael Smith
425 W. Capitol Av., Suite 3700
Little Rock, AR 72201
Call: 501.519.4357