broken tooth

[dmyokum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

While eating a hamburger at Sonic I bit into a bone or something hard in the burger and broke my tooth. The replacement will be $1,028.00. Can I expect the Sonic to pay for it? At the time it happened, I told the manager and got her business card. She said to let them know what they could do. I went directly to my dentist. He took pictures of the broken tooth and gave me the estimate to fix it. Before I call Sonic, I want to have liability information at hand.
Thanks,
dm

[dmyokum]

Originally Posted by dmyokum

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

While eating a hamburger at Sonic I bit into a bone or something hard in the burger and broke my tooth. The replacement will be $1,028.00. Can I expect the Sonic to pay for it? At the time it happened, I told the manager and got her business card. She said to let them know what they could do. I went directly to my dentist. He took pictures of the broken tooth and gave me the estimate to fix it. Before I call Sonic, I want to have liability information at hand.
Thanks,
dm

I posted this yesterday in hopes of getting my ducks in a row before I called the restaurant. Anyone knowledgeable about liability here?

Thanks,
dm

[Zigner]

Talk to Sonic...

[ecmst12]

Did you save the burger so you could have documented evidence of what you bit into?

[dmyokum]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

Did you save the burger so you could have documented evidence of what you bit into?

I had the shards of my tooth, but I could not identify what I had bitten.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by dmyokum

I had the shards of my tooth, but I could not identify what I had bitten.

Then you have a very weak case.

[ReformedMan]

Originally Posted by seniorjudge

Then you have a very weak case.

And an even weaker tooth.

[HomeGuru]

[quote=dmyokum;2030399]What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

While eating a hamburger at Sonic I bit into a bone or something hard in the burger and broke my tooth. The replacement will be $1,028.00.


**A: what? A burger does not cost that much to replace.


#########
Can I expect the Sonic to pay for it?


**A: by all means make them pay for a new replacement burger.

[CameronNewport]

Originally Posted by dmyokum

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

While eating a hamburger at Sonic I bit into a bone or something hard in the burger and broke my tooth. The replacement will be $1,028.00. Can I expect the Sonic to pay for it? At the time it happened, I told the manager and got her business card. She said to let them know what they could do. I went directly to my dentist. He took pictures of the broken tooth and gave me the estimate to fix it. Before I call Sonic, I want to have liability information at hand.
Thanks,
dm

If you can prove that Sonic caused your broken tooth, then you entitled to full reimbursement for the dentist bill if you were to sue. Therefore, you should ask Sonic for that amount.

While it would be helpful to have the actual bone (or whatever broke your tooth) for a lawsuit, it is not necessary to prove your case since liability can be established with other evidence (if there is any).

EDIT: I have to add that sometimes bone is found in ground beef, and therefore, it may be considered reasonable to expect it every so often. Because of that, I'm unclear whether a bone in a hamburger would actually make the burger a "defective product" (that will require research). Assuming it does, then my post above applies.

[ecmst12]

If he was unable to identify anything in the burger that could have broken his tooth, then it's unlikely he will be able to prove any liability on Sonic. A bone in a burger, as mentioned, could be incidental and not negligent. A ROCK in a burger could be negligent. But with no evidence of bone or rock or any other hard object in the burger, there is no case.

By all means, ask them to pay the bill. But if they refuse, I just don't see any recourse.

[quincy]

After reviewing a few North Carolina negligence and personal injury actions, I ran across several cases that mirror your situation, dmyokum. The one that is most applicable, perhaps, is Goodman v. Wenco Foods, Inc.

Goodman sued Wendy's, and the company that supplies Wendy's hamburger, for negligence and breach of implied warranty. Goodman bit down into a Wendy's hamburger and broke his tooth. He found a bone in the burger.

Goodman had a witness who was at the table with him when he broke his tooth on the bone in the burger, he showed the bone (and his tooth fragment) to the manager of Wendy's and he had three dentists examine his broken tooth.

For court he obtained Wendy's meat-grinding specifications, which limit the size of bone or cartilage allowable in their beef.

There were several cases cited during the course of the trial, as well as the Uniform Commercial Code N.C.G.S. section 25-2-314 (1986). Some of the cases cited were: Sharpe v. Worland, Coffer v. Standard Brands, Inc. and other North Carolina cases and Mix v. Ingersall Candy Co. (a California case), among others.

In one case cited, Adams v. Tea Co, 251 NC 565, 112 SE 2d 92 (1960), the court said that whenever a substance is natural to the food itself, there can be no liability because the consumer should anticipate and be on guard against the presence of such a substance (ie. fish and fish bones). In other words, it must be decided if a substance is natural or foreign to a food product and, if natural, can a consumer reasonably expect it in the food product.

Natural substances are not foreign substances and, therefore, they are not a defect in the food product and, therefore, the seller of the food product cannot be held liable - unless the natural substance found is large enough to be injurious to the health or there is a large quantity of such natural substances appearing that would make their presence unexpected by a consumer. Only when there is foreign matter present can some liability be assumed.

Although a restaurant has a duty of care to see that the food it serves does not injure the customers, consumers must have reasonable expectations and not expect any "perfect" product. Goodman lost his negligence and breach of warranty suit against Wendy's.

Without the substance that broke your tooth and, therefore, without evidence that it was a foreign substance that would be unexpected in your food instead of a natural substance that could reasonably be expected in your food, you may have a difficult time holding the restaurant liable for your broken tooth (although Sonic may pay just to avoid a potential lawsuit).

[CameronNewport]

Originally Posted by quincy

Without the substance that broke your tooth and, therefore, without evidence that it was a foreign substance that would be unexpected in your food instead of a natural substance that could reasonably be expected in your food, you may have a difficult time holding the restaurant liable for your broken tooth (although Sonic may pay just to avoid a potential lawsuit).

I agree with that.

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by CameronNewport

I agree with that.

Good for you.

[barry1817]

Originally Posted by dmyokum

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

While eating a hamburger at Sonic I bit into a bone or something hard in the burger and broke my tooth. The replacement will be $1,028.00. Can I expect the Sonic to pay for it? At the time it happened, I told the manager and got her business card. She said to let them know what they could do. I went directly to my dentist. He took pictures of the broken tooth and gave me the estimate to fix it. Before I call Sonic, I want to have liability information at hand.
Thanks,
dm

You can bet that the company will want to see dental records prior to the time of the incident. If the tooth was decayed, not treated or was in need of treatment, the case gets much weaker. If you have dental records that the tooth was sound, and not in need of any treatment you have a stronger case.

[JustAPal00]

I used to own a sandwich shop. A lady bit into a bone in a chicken salad sandwich and broke her tooth. When I was informed I called the supplier of the diced chicken we used to make our chicken salad. They said send them a bill and they would pay for the dental work. It was almost $900. If I were you I would send the manager the bill for the work. Sonic will probably cover it just from a customer service standpoint!