While dining out isn't exactly an extreme sport, it also isn't without risk. The question raised by a recent lawsuit against celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, however, is: How responsible are restaurants when things go wrong?
According to TMZ, a woman named Tamara Mason-Williams has filed a lawsuit against Puck saying that when she was eating at his establishment, The Source Restaurant, last April, a waitress hit her in the head with a "heavy metal water pitcher."
Ouch and unfortunate, yes, but she claims that it left her with a concussion. She's now suing for unspecified damages for lost income and medical expenses and accuses Puck of having "negligently trained" staff.
You mean they didn't have classes on how not to whack customers in the head with water pitchers? How dare they!
I don't mean to be flip about her alleged injury, but come on. Wouldn't an apology and maybe a free meal be enough? Even if the waitress did hit her hard enough to result in an injury, accidents happen. Suing every time one does isn't fair to anyone.
But sue they do. From the guy who sued because he couldn't fit into a restaurant booth to the customer who sued because the coffee was too hot, we've seen plenty of cases over the years. But if people don't stop, restaurants are going to have to start asking people to sign waivers before dining.
Food by its very nature can be a risky business -- no matter where you eat it. From e.coli contamination to kitchen accidents, sometimes people get hurt while cooking and eating food. Restaurants should do everything they can to prevent that from happening, but the fact is that even if they do everything according to "the book," accidents and incidents are still going to happen. Diners who sue every time they do are just going to make us all pay in the end.
What do you think of this lawsuit?
Image via Steve Snodgrass/Flickr
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Comments 22
If she really did incur medical bills, I think he should pick up the tab. A serious whack on the head is more than an accident, it's negligence. However, it should only be based on actual injury. A lot of people think they're owed something just because something happens that shouldn't have.
The problem is that there's too many doctors who are willing to flat out lie about these things in return for payment, that's why there's so much disability fraud.
I'm having a really hard time believing that the waitress was swinging the metal pitcher around so hard that she gave the woman a concussion...
Just another selfish person wanting money. If she was hit so hard in the head where it caused such medical damage, dont you think a manager should have notified? Why wait till after the fact to bring up what happen that night? The waitress would have had to really hit her on purpose for that to happen.
Something similar almost happened to me when I was a teenager! While working at a hostess, I was seating and bussing tables. A guy claimed that I had bumped his chair and caused his back to go out. I did not have any recollection of ever bumping his chair (I weighed less than 100 lbs at the time.......he was over 300 lbs. If anyone's back was going to be thrown, it would have been mine by the weight disparity).
its jsut jerks trying to dime everyone. They couldn't win at life, so they have now resorted to cheating. Luckily, the guy dropped the case before it even went to court because he knew he didn't have "a leg to stand on".........sick.
Agreed with everyone who says if there were actual medical bills, they should be covered by the employee (not necessarily the restaurant). It wasn't the manager who said "go whack that person" - I'm quite sure it was the fault of one person - people need to be responsible for their OWN ACTIONS...