Man Dies After Ruby Tuesday Serves Him Wrong Dish

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I am a lawyer and I think this is probably more complicated than this.

Certainly the plaintiff's negligence action would be stronger if he or she informs the restaurant of their allergy before ordering. But think a reasonable person has the right to assume that a restaurant will serve them the food as described and as they ordered it. If a menu lists the ingredients in a dish, I think you have the right to assume that those are the only ingredients used. If you know it is safe for you to eat those things, and you order what is safe for you, then I think you can make a pretty good argument that the restaurant is negligent if they serve you something different, whether you inform them of a food allergy or not.

You might even try an "eggshell plaintiff" argument. Eggshell skull - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Of course I could argue the other side, too.:LOL:

My point is that it's not so cut and dried and courts will always differ. A court in Oregon could find for the plaintiff and a court in Iowa could find for the defendant using exactly the same fact pattern.

But I am guessing that the vast majority of food allergy cases are settled and not litigated

"I am a lawyer and I think this is probably more complicated than this."

Yeah, it always is:ROFLMAO::LOL:

Everything I've read says the restaurant has the order pad, the kitchen ticket, and the computer order all saying Chicken Oscar.

While I agree, Ruby Tuesdays will likely settle for monatary damages, that doesn't mean they are liable, only that they don't want further publicity than necessary.

The main point is, the relatives are saying "they want RT to change something so this won't ever happen again." Without the man telling them of his allergy, what they are really saying is they want all restaurants to never make an ordering mistake again. That is not going to happen.

In the end, the only logical, practical fix is that folks who know they have acute allergies must let the restaurant know, and carry an EPIPEN.

Let me ask you a hypothetical. Would the restaurant been protected if they had posted a sign saying, "If you have a food allergy, let your waitress know?
 
Where do you draw the line? If the man was ordering ice cream should he have to tell the person behind the counter that he is allergic to crab? If he is ordering a cheese pizza does he have to mention it?

The person with the allergy is responsible to make sure that what goes into his/her mouth does not contain anything that they are allergic to, but you can not expect a person to mention it every single time they order food. It is ultimately their responsibility (I am not talking legally), but common sense needs to be used as well.

Hi GB:

We are talking degree here. Unless there was a crab based ice cream on the menu than of course he needn't tell.

We are also talking about the degree of allergy. An allergy that makes you sick for a while is one thing, but most folks that have allergies to seafood know that it will kill them. This puts a little more responsibility on them. Mistakes happen. If you or your kids had such an allergy, you would surely carry an EpiPen.

I don't disagree with folks who say you should get what you order. But if your life is on the line, you can't just depend that stressed out folks in a restaurant won't make a mistake that can kill you
 
Hi GB:

We are talking degree here. Unless there was a crab based ice cream on the menu than of course he needn't tell.

We are also talking about the degree of allergy. An allergy that makes you sick for a while is one thing, but most folks that have allergies to seafood know that it will kill them. This puts a little more responsibility on them. Mistakes happen. If you or your kids had such an allergy, you would surely carry an EpiPen.

I don't disagree with folks who say you should get what you order. But if your life is on the line, you can't just depend that stressed out folks in a restaurant won't make a mistake that can kill you
I do not disagree with anything you said here mozart. In the end, when it comes right down to it (and again I am not talking legalities here. That is for the lawers to fight about) it is the responsibility of the person with the allergy. No doubt about it.

Like you said, we are talking about degrees here. My ice cream example was meant to be extreme, but somewhere between ordering ice cream and ordering crab legs there is a gray area.
 
His wife claims he ordered the other chicken, not chicken Oscar.

Why would someone with a deadly allergy to crab knowlingly order something with crab in it?

The fact that RT discloses the ingredients may hurt them here .... by who knows.

What the relatives are saying is "we want money."

I think it would help their defense if restaurants had a prominent blurb in their menu to this effect ...."If you have a food allergy, let your waitress know?"

But it may not absolve them of liability if someone doesn't tell them.
 
I don't disagree with folks who say you should get what you order. But if your life is on the line, you can't just depend that stressed out folks in a restaurant won't make a mistake that can kill you


I agree with that entirely. People should go out of their way to protect themselves if they have a life-threatening allergy. But it doesn't mean the restaurant isn't responsible if they don't.
 
Where do you draw the line? If the man was ordering ice cream should he have to tell the person behind the counter that he is allergic to crab? If he is ordering a cheese pizza does he have to mention it?

The person with the allergy is responsible to make sure that what goes into his/her mouth does not contain anything that they are allergic to, but you can not expect a person to mention it every single time they order food. It is ultimately their responsibility (I am not talking legally), but common sense needs to be used as well.
If you are ordering food at a restaurant that cooks and serves the food you are allergic to, you should most definitely inform the restaurant. It's not like an ice cream shop serves crab ice cream but a restaurant that serves a mix of safe and non-safe (to the allergic person) food should be advised and, quite honestly, why wouldn't you want to inform the server if for no other reason than your own safety.
 
"I am a lawyer and I think this is probably more complicated than this."

Yeah, it always is:ROFLMAO::LOL:

Everything I've read says the restaurant has the order pad, the kitchen ticket, and the computer order all saying Chicken Oscar.

While I agree, Ruby Tuesdays will likely settle for monatary damages, that doesn't mean they are liable, only that they don't want further publicity than necessary.

The main point is, the relatives are saying "they want RT to change something so this won't ever happen again." Without the man telling them of his allergy, what they are really saying is they want all restaurants to never make an ordering mistake again. That is not going to happen.

In the end, the only logical, practical fix is that folks who know they have acute allergies must let the restaurant know, and carry an EPIPEN.

Let me ask you a hypothetical. Would the restaurant been protected if they had posted a sign saying, "If you have a food allergy, let your waitress know?

Is not the kitchen ticket & the computer order all based on the information on the order pad so these three points are all the same especially if the waitress misheard the order. But this should be picked up if she read it back.
 
It's not like an ice cream shop serves crab ice cream
That is where you are potentially wrong though. How do you know that ice cream shops do not sell crab ice cream? Of course you can read the menu, but if you don't happen to read every entry then you could miss one.

Who would have thought that there would be someone who would make trout ice cream? What about tomato ice cream? Garlic? Squid? Avocado? Habanero peppers? Onion? Yet all of these things have been made into ice cream. Just because crab ice cream does not sound like something that would ever be made that does not mean that it does not happen. If a deadly crab allergy like this guy did and you made that assumption and went to a place that just happened to make something like that then there would be a cross contamination issue and you could die. Yes it is unlikely, but it most certainly is possible.
 
Is not the kitchen ticket & the computer order all based on the information on the order pad so these three points are all the same especially if the waitress misheard the order. But this should be picked up if she read it back.

That was my thought as well, everything else is based on what she wrote, so it is no surprise it all matches. If it didn't, then we would know where the mistake was made.
There are too many questions around this for anyone to have any answers right now. Did the waitress read the order back? Did he glance at the menu and read off the wrong dish by mistake? Was he committing suicide in such a way as to possibly provide money for his family?
Who knows... stay tuned to Court TV to find out, LOL.
 
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania. I moved to Georgia when I was 20 years old so have been here about 30 years. When I first moved here, I noticed that some southerners had very thick accents. So thick in fact that sometimes I would have people repeat themselves a few times before I could understand what they were saying. There are still times when I can't understand people down here who have thick accents and then slur their words. So I can understand how the mix up could have happened. The restaurant in question is only about 20 miles from where I live. It was probably a misunderstanding on the part of the server but she should have repeated the order back. That should be a policy.
 
That is where you are potentially wrong though. How do you know that ice cream shops do not sell crab ice cream? Of course you can read the menu, but if you don't happen to read every entry then you could miss one.
You're stretching things just to stretch. Unless it's a specialty, make your own, not a chain, maybe, but no major chain ice cream shop has crab ice cream. As to your list, please, those were Iron Chef creations, not on the normal menu and most were hated by the judges.
 
You're stretching things just to stretch. Unless it's a specialty, make your own, not a chain, maybe, but no major chain ice cream shop has crab ice cream. As to your list, please, those were Iron Chef creations, not on the normal menu and most were hated by the judges.
I admit I used an absurd example to make a point. I never have seen crab ice cream. This has nothing to do with chains though. People with allergies do not only eat ice cream at Baskin Robbins. They do go to mom and pop shops. Absurd ice cream flavors DO exist. I have been in shops that have had them. As a matter of fact i was just watching a show (Modern Marvels) last night which happened to be on ice cream. They listed a number of flavors such as the ones I listed above and others as well including eel ice cream. Again, I am not talking about make your own. These flavors are served in shops open to the public. You may not have seen them, but that does not mean they do not exist.
 
I expect that the restaurant is in a weaked position here - the three statements they claim to back up the order are really one. The written ticket is the one, the other two are simply reproductions and not first hand verifications that the man actually did not order this. However, I believe the man is unfortunately not off the hook.

Number one, he has a deadly shell fish allergy and he orders in a restaurant with plenty of seafood on the menu. Has there never ever been a case of cross contamination? If there has why in the world would one put their lives at risk by eating where such could occur. Nope, he was rather careless with his life unfortunately.

Maybe a modest finding for his family but not much. A restaurant simply can not protect everyone who has deadly food allergies. These people have an obligation to protect themselves by avoiding potential deadly situations. My opinion and a rediculous amount of money will buy you a Starbucks.
 
I think a lot of people are missing the point. Callisto is not.

I read a first hand account by a witness who was one section over when this even occurred. According to her, the man was panting and then he got up and asked if anyone there had any benadryl. She said folks were going through there pockets and purses looking for it and some even went out to their cars.

The point is; he knew he had a life threatening allergy, he knew he was eating out where his allergen was served, he knew that medications existed that could help, and yet he failed to take the precautions that a normal person would take in his situation.

He should have carried and EpiPen, he should have told the waitress that he has a life threatening allergy so alert the cooks to be careful about cross-contamination, and he should have paid attention to what he was served. Sliced tomatoes (according to the manager, this is how Chicken Fresco is served) don't look or taste anything like lump crab.

Where do you draw the line? You don't need a line if you carry an EpiPen. Since you need a prescription, the restaurant can't keep them on hand and probably would have liability issues if they could.

Someone with his history going out to eat without adrenalin on their person is unwittingly participating in a lottery.

IMHO:rolleyes:
 
The person with the allergy is responsible to make sure that what goes into his/her mouth does not contain anything that they are allergic to, but you can not expect a person to mention it every single time they order food. It is ultimately their responsibility (I am not talking legally), but common sense needs to be used as well.


Considering the consequences 'common sense' dictates that the allergy is brought to the forefront <b>each and every time</b> food is ordered. Your example of ordering ice cream illustrates this point extremely well.

Seems to me if eating the wrong thing can get me killed seems to me it would obnly be prudent to take every step to make sure I don't eat the wrong thing each and every time I order food <b>anywhere</b>
 
The point is; he knew he had a life threatening allergy, he knew he was eating out where his allergen was served, he knew that medications existed that could help, and yet he failed to take the precautions that a normal person would take in his situation.


I don't like blaming the victim but in this instance, no matter how the allergen got into the guys belly, going to an establishment that serves what could get him killed and not carrying the 'cure' shows a lack of self responsibility.
 
Considering the consequences 'common sense' dictates that the allergy is brought to the forefront <b>each and every time</b> food is ordered. Your example of ordering ice cream illustrates this point extremely well.

Seems to me if eating the wrong thing can get me killed seems to me it would obnly be prudent to take every step to make sure I don't eat the wrong thing each and every time I order food <b>anywhere</b>
I do not disagree with any of this. I am only saying that people will be people. If you have to do something every day or risk something bad happen them most people will do their best to do it. Most people will also probably slip up from time to time and either take a chance or forget or whatever. It is just human nature, even with something as serious as this. That does not mean it is no longer that persons responsibility, but slip ups do and will happen.
 
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