To sue or not to sue?

wcc · 05-15-2006, 05:56 AM

Last week (May 6th) I took my wife out for dinner to a local restaurant before I had to leave town on business. I left the next day (May 7th) checked in to the motel, etc. Everything was fine.

Well in the middle of the night I came down with flu like symptoms, no fever, and was really sick for a couple of days. Anyways, after I got severely dehydrated/fatigued laying around in my motel room I finally drove myself to the ER for help. They hooked me up to an IV gave me meds and sent me on my way a couple hours later. I was back to work by Wednesday, but no where near 100%. I felt more like myself one full week later (May 13).

Here's where it gets interesting. I pick up the paper Saturday morning (May 13) and the restaurant we ate at is on the front page of the paper with close to 300 reported cases at the health dept for the same illness for the same time I ate there. The restaurant is closed for cleaning and sanitizing everything. I reported my case to the health dept on-line Sunday.

The wife was fine. She didn't get it. Thank God. So, now she and her cousin want me to sue. I'm not a sue type person but I see her point on their negligence.

So here are my questions (Lawyers):
What are my chances of winning?
Go alone or wait for a class action thing to come around?
What amount is a reasonable amount to ask for?
If this happened to you would you sue?

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

What exactly will you gain by suing?

Were you irreparably harmed in some way?

It's this sort of opportunistic cash grab that's made our tort system such a mess, and has driven insurance costs through the roof.

Jim Richards · 05-15-2006, 06:03 AM

don't bother to sue. don't ever eat there again and warn all your friends.

Tervuren · Tervuren's Garage

If it was a direct result of what they did, perhaps just the medical bills, if you like to eat at the resteraunt though - don't sue.

I'm unsure of how exactly it would of spread, it might not of been their fault, or whatever, I just don't know.

wcc · 05-15-2006, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by widebody911
What exactly will you gain by suing?

Were you irreparably harmed in some way?

It's this sort of opportunistic cash grab that's made our tort system such a mess, and has driven insurance costs through the roof.

Money, no, and I know. That's why I'm having a hard time with this because I'm not a sue type person. So I thought I'd see what the collective wisdom here had to say about it.

legion · 05-15-2006, 06:10 AM

I would contact the restaurant directly for reimbursement of medical costs. The way I see it, they should cover the real costs you incurred, not make you independently wealthy.

Chances are, the restaurant is either independent or a franchise. Suing would probably force them to close their doors, and probably wouldn't win you much money....much less after the lawyers extract their fee (30% - 50%).

+1 to Thom

BlueSkyJaunte · 05-15-2006, 06:11 AM

You won't win anything. Your lawyer(s), on the other hand, will do quite nicely.

Glad you're feeling better, food poisoning sucks.

Nathans_Dad · Nathans_Dad's Garage

You have no reason to sue them. They did no irreparable harm to you and I am guessing your insurance company paid for all your medical bills. If that is not the case you can ask the restaurant to cover your medical costs and see what they say. If they refuse then you might have a small claims case, but it probably isn't worth your while.

If you give into the temptation to try and grab some cash then you join the millions of selfish Americans who are sucking this country dry for personal gain. Food poisoning happens, sounds like this restaurant had an issue and is dealing with it. They are probably being fined by the health department anyway.

Do the honorable thing and move on with your life.

wcc · 05-15-2006, 06:28 AM

Suing isn't the first thing that crosses my mind but I have to many lawyers in my family. That is where the real pressure to sue is coming from. Any of them would do it free of charge as they already said they would.

IF I do decide to ask for anything it would be to cover my expenses and pay for my time off work. That's it. I'm not looking to shut down the place or become a millionaire. I have health insurance and I used sick days so there isn't a lot in expenses to even worry about. That's why I don't think suing is really worth it.

This is good cause you guys are supporting my side of the argument.

Eric 951 · 05-15-2006, 06:33 AM

Don't sue. Only the lawyers and insurance win.

wcc · 05-15-2006, 06:39 AM

Here's the link to the news article of the restaurant:

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060513/NEWS01/605130333/1002/ARCHIVES

legion · 05-15-2006, 06:45 AM

So they'd be doing it pro-bono. In my opinion, cases that are taken on by plaintiff's attorneys pro-bono are then used as advertising for future cases.

Example: "I think you have a case. I was able to win a similar case and get the plaintiff $500,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages. Though in your case I'm not sure about what precedents exist...I'll have to do some research ($) and it may take a few years of litigation ($$) to finally win. Of course, this is above an beyond what I normally do so I will ask you to support me when I request a larger fee from the judge ($$$)."

bell · bell's Garage

taken from the link......
"It had eight critical violations in December. Four of them had to do with food handling. There were 36 critical violations in May 2005, five of which had to do with food."

is that a high count of violations? i would only sue if the culprit of the sickness was not properly addressed from a prior violation.......and it would only be for lost time/expenses.

Nathans_Dad · Nathans_Dad's Garage

I doubt that a lawyer would sue them only for lost time and expenses. If you look at this scenario, it sounds like he was out of work for 2 days. Now he didn't really lose any wages unless he works on an hourly basis, he would simply take the sick leave.

That leaves you with medical expenses. Assuming that he got zero help from his insurance his medical bill might be somewhere in the $1000 range for a visit to the ED.

No lawyer is going to go through the trouble of taking this case for $1000. They will likely insist on adding in some pain and suffering or other BS to get the number higher so their cut is higher.

Don't sue man. Don't give in to the cancer that is eating this country alive.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

If you auntie Mae cooked the food at the family picnic and you got sick, would you sue her?

***** happens.

legion · 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nostatic
If you auntie Mae cooked the food at the family picnic and you got sick, would you sue her?

***** happens.

Exactly.

Why does Wal-Mart get sued so often?

Why do insurance companies get sued so often?

When capital is concentrated, people want at it.

Oh Haha · 05-15-2006, 07:35 AM

Hey Bill,
That sucks!!!! You seemed fine when you stopped by my house.
Trust me, the rest. will go through a thorough inspection fro mthe health dept. We work with them all of the time for our dining locations.
If it was me, I would only make them pay for your medical and lost time.
I'm not big on lawsuits in most cases.
Either way, I hope you are feeling better.

Dantilla · 05-15-2006, 07:41 AM

There is absolutely no way I would sue if I was in your position.

Moses · 05-15-2006, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wcc
I'm not a sue type person...

The fact that you are even considering it suggests otherwise.

VaSteve · 05-15-2006, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nostatic
If you auntie Mae cooked the food at the family picnic and you got sick, would you sue her?

***** happens.

I disagree. If you're running a food business and you have THAT many violations, you don't know WTF you're doing.

I agree on not suing, but comparing the two isn't appropriate.