A woman is suing Chick-fil-A after claiming she found a rodent in her sandwich
Please don't read this over lunch
Please don't read this over lunch
One would hope that when it comes to food, what you see is what you get. But reports that a Philadelphia woman found something beyond disturbing back in November when she bit into her chicken sandwich: a rodent. (Yes, you read that right — a dead mouse.)
Ellen Manfalouti is suing franchise owner Dave Heffernan and the Longhorne Bucks County store where her coworker bought the sandwich for over $50,000 due to damages, both physical and psychological, associated with her alarming discovery.
"I felt something funny on the bottom of the bun," she said in an interview with last year. "I turned it over. I said to [my coworker], 'They burned my roll really bad.'"
After Manfalouti threw the bun on the table, her coworker at Nationwide Insurance pointed out something with whiskers and a tail. Lab results later confirmed it was in fact a rodent baked into the bread.
Attorney William M. Davis of McMonagle, Perri, McHugh & Mischak, P.C. told GoodHousekeeping.com that the exact amount his client is requesting cannot be disclosed. However, he said that under Pennsylvania state law, a civil complaint filed for a sum exceeding $50,000 indicates one seeks out a jury trial.
According to the attorney, Manfalouti contacted him a day after the incident, and a painstaking process began where no one — not representatives from the franchise, their insurance company, the CEO, nor the bakery distributor — reportedly would accept responsibility. This "stonewalling," he said, left him no other option than to turn to the courts.
And so, after months of trying to find a resolution, they finally filed a lawsuit this week.
"The actions and conduct of defendants were intentional, knowing and/or reckless, constituting extreme and outrageous conduct which caused plaintiff to suffer foreseeable emotional and physical harm," reads the complaint.
Manfalouti went to St. Mary Medical Center where she was given an IV for nausea, and the longterm effects of her findings led her to see a psychologist for anxiety.
Davis said it will take between 12 to 18 months until the lawsuit reaches the trial stage.
"I would like to think that if any restaurant was confronted with this sort of evidence [discharge instructions from the hospital, lab results, the sandwich receipt, explicit photos, etc.] that there would be at least a little more engagement from them," Davis stated. "When there isn't that sort of response, no one has any choice but to turn to the court."
[h/t ]