Rep. Dennis Kucinich sues over olive pit in sandwich

[liberal N proud]

CLEVELAND - Rep. Dennis Kucinich has filed a lawsuit against a Washington D.C. cafeteria after he claims an olive pit in a sandwich caused him dental problems.

The lawsuit filed by the Cleveland Democrat states he bought a sandwich from the Longworth Cafeteria in the Longworth House Office Building. While the suit was filed on Jan. 3, the alleged incident happened on or around April 17, 2008. Court documents refer to the olive pit as a "dangerous substance."

The lawsuit claims:

“Said sandwich wrap was unwholesome and unfit for human consumption, in that it was represented to contain pitted olives, yet unknown to plaintiff contained an unpitted olive or olives which plaintiff did not reasonably expect to be present in the food prepared for him, and could not visually detect prior to consumption.

“As a result of consuming said unfit and unwholesome food, plaintiff sustained serious and permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures and has sustained other damages as well, including significant pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment.”

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/kucinich-sues-over-olive-pit-in-sandwich

[pnwmom]

1. And he wants $150 K. A lot of money for some dental work. n/t

[Vickers]

2. ALWAYS presume that an olive still has the pit inside.

Trust me.

[pnwmom]

6. Same with a cherry, a grape -- anything that could have a pit. n/t

[CanonRay]

3. He's going to be the poster boy for "tort reform"

Mark my words. This is really stupid on his part.

[pnwmom]

7. Seriously. I'm dreading it already. n/t

[MilesColtrane]

16. It's not like this will sink his chances of a future White House run.

:shrug:

[customerserviceguy]

20. Plus, this isn't a private business he's suing

Ultimately, settlement of this will come out of the taxpayers' pockets, another reason he will be vilified for this.

[mkultra]

4. This cant be real can it?

[WinkyDink]

8. Have you ever needed dental surgery?

[pnwmom]

10. I have. And one of my relatives had extensive surgery --

involving 8 implants.

The total cost for all of that (within the last couple years) was a fraction of what Kucinich is asking. But Kucinich wants to be compensated for pain and suffering.

[REP]

19. Yes. Quite a bit of it. Paid out of pocket - didn't cost what he's crying for.

[mkultra]

23. yeah, but i had insurance, and so does he

[pnwmom]

9. Read this and weep.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-pn-kucinich-lawsuit-20110127,0,2859602.story

[Deep13]

5. Well, I think Ohio redistricting just got a little easier. nt

[pacalo]

11. My brother found a fake fingernail in his shrimp po-boy years ago.

Result: He stopped ordering lunch from there.

Of course, an upset stomach doesn't compare to tooth damage.

[Codeine]

12. Fake fingernails don't belong in shrimp.

Pits are part of the landscape when you're eating olives.

[Drunken Irishman]

25. Exactly.

Sometimes when I buy normal fries from Arbys, I get a few of those pesky curly fries!

Now don't ask me why I eat at Arbys. I really don't. Sometimes I do, though!

I disgust myself. :(

[pnwmom]

13. EWWW!!! n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. My friend lost a couple fake nails in a giant salad she was preparing for a restaurant.

She wasn't supposed to be working in the kitchen but she had to pitch in and get the salad out in a hurry. Didn't notice they were gone until it was too late.

She spent the whole night dreading the inevitable complaints. But alas the complaints never materialized. Somebody must have eaten the finger nails..... crunch crunch.

[pacalo]

28. OMG. I don't like cheesecake to this day because of finding a dark hair

in a slice served to me in a restaurant back in '67. Seriously.

[MuseRider]

14. Unlike the typical member of our Congress

Dennis Kucinich is not wealthy. He does however have good insurance but consider that he is not one of the many millionaires sitting around making the laws.

Considering the cost of just maintaining my teeth as I get older I dread, seriously dread anything like this happening with no insurance.

[ingac70]

17. He has better insurance than anyone.

He is a fucking asshole for doing this.

[REP]

18. I'm thinking the tooth was already damaged to be that ravaged by an olive pit

As a person who's chomped on a lot of olive pits without breaking a sound tooth but has broken a damaged one on a cracker - and without Congressional-strength insurance - I say "wah."

[MuseRider]

22. Good use of your words.

Next time try making a point rather than calling names. Or maybe considering what might be going on instead of reacting with so much vile.

Of course he does, so? Apparently it cost him a good bit out of pocket. Anything else?

[Uzybone]

15. SMH

[flvegan]

21. If I'd been dealing with some sort of pain for 3 years

because of someone's negligence, I'd probably sue too. I'm also betting that most of the pooh-poohers in this and other threads on DU would too. Especially if it bothered me, I don't know...everytime I ate, especially considering how much folks around here bitch about their food.

Sorry, but there it is.

[Catherina]

24. Funny this. His lawsuit is for "dangerous substanceS"

and is against 4 different companies that supply cafeteria food "unfit for human consumption". He's ALSO, as one of the most honest and poorest Congressmen out there, seeking some compensation for MULTIPLE and EXTENSIVE dental work that has to be repeated in the future and PERMANENT damage.

I'm very sad to see how many people are siding with corporations before even reading a fact other than the ones the 4 companies are putting out.


When your children come down really sick for dangerous substanceS in their cafeteria food, I hope people remember this moment and how they sneered at a man who fought so hard to avoid TRILLIONS in wasteful gifts to Wall Street thieves and TRILLIONS in illegal wars that our children will have to pay for.

The corporations sure have an easy job.

[Drunken Irishman]

26. I'm willing to bet Kucinich has a far better dental plan than 99% of DUers...