What to do if my fast food had maggots on it?
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What to do if my fast food had maggots on it?
I ate chicken from a fast food chain with maggots. I didn’t know until I turned it over. I call the store soon after. I took the chicken to show them but no one claimed to be the manger. My doctor’s bill is $1,400 but they only offered $500. I asked for $5,000. Should I get a lawyer? I have video, photo and I froze the chicken.
Asked on November 12, 2011 under Personal Injury, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Assuming you can prove the presence of the maggots, that may be enough to establish liability, or an obligation to pay: food should not be served with maggots. The question then is, what can you recover? If you incurred $1,400 in medical bills due to the maggots (and those bills were necessary and reasonable--i.e. not padded), you would seem to be able to get $1,400. If you did not lose wages or suffer any significant injury from the maggots, it is unlikely you can recover anything else--the amount of money you can in a lawsuit is directly linked to your costs and injuries.
From what you write, you may be able to get $1,400, or $900 more than they are offering. To get it, if they won't pay, you'd have to sue them. You might consider suing in small claims court, to reduce your costs--hiring an attorney could cost you more than you hope to collect.
You might also go past this store to contact the corporate offices--they may be more willing to at least cover all your costs to avoid bad publicity.
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