RESTAURANT CHAIN CHOPT FACES NEW LAWSUIT AFTER DINER FINDS SEVERED FINGER IN HER SALAD

by Nadia El-Yaouti | Dec 08, 2023

New Jersey Legal News

A Greenwich, Connecticut, woman filed a negligence lawsuit against the popular restaurant chain, Chopt, earlier this week. Her lawsuit comes after she says she unknowingly chewed on a human finger after she ordered a salad.

Allison Cozzi filed her lawsuit earlier this week with the Supreme Court of Westchester County, New York. In her complaint, Cozzi says that when she dined at the fast-casual restaurant at the Mount Kisco, NY, location this past April, she ordered and was served an arugula salad. While she was eating the salad, she realized that she was “chewing on a portion of a human finger that had been mixed into, and made a part of, the salad.”

According to reports, earlier that day, the manager identified as Keny M. was prepping the arugula salad when she inadvertently chopped off her index finger. The lawsuit says the manager went on to seek medical care while “the contaminated arugula was left on the service line and served to customers.

According to local reports, the lawsuit includes an investigation number that matches the investigation number of a case opened by the Westchester County Department of Health against the restaurant’s Mount Kisco location. The Department of Health published some details of the case, including a $900 civil penalty that was made against the restaurant.

The inspection report also shows that a couple of weeks after the incident, the manager in question was interviewed by the health inspector. During the interview, the manager disclosed that both the she and staff “did not realize the arugula was contaminated with human blood and a fingertip.”

The lawsuit further alleges that a complaint was reported to the restaurant location and corporate officers, but a complaint was not filed with state health officials as required by state law. On May 25, a hearing was held on the incident resulting in the $900 civil fine. The restaurant was found to have corrected the violations and expressed “contrition for failure to report” the incident.

Cozzi’s lawsuit argues the restaurant was negligent in its conduct and is seeking unspecified damages. Her lawsuit details that after her experience, she suffered “severe and serious personal injuries including: shock; panic attacks; migraine and the exacerbation of migraine; cognitive impairment; traumatic stress and anxiety, nausea, vomiting, dizziness; and neck and shoulder pain.”