Can I sue Costco for selling wrong food

[mass3492]

California,

Dear Gurus,

Yesterday me and my family went to Costco, San Jose, CA to eat pizza. We are strict vegetarian by religion and by birth. I ordered large veg pizza and were shell shocked when I found out after eating few slices that the pizza was pepperoni. We felt disgusted and felt extremely low that the meat which we avoided our whole life was thrown upon us and that of cow's (which is sacred in our religion) meat in just a matter of few minutes. We could not stop cursing ourselves. I explained the whole matter to the food manager - and he just took it so lightly that he just offered to replace it with another pizza in an extremely rude tone. I just walked out of the scene in utter distress.

Now I am thinking that can I sue Costco for all the wrong things they have done to me which includes making a mockery of my religion.

Any line in reply will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!!

 

[ajkroy]

Could you not see that there were pepperoni on the pizza instead of vegetables?

 

[CdwJava]

Anyone can sue anyone else for anything. The question is not whether you can sue, but whether you can win. For that, you may have to talk to some attorneys. However, I doubt that you will have much of a case, but, it's your money to spend. A lawsuit will cost many thousands of dollars to pursue if you can fidn an attorney willing to take the case - and that's assuming they can find legal grounds for a suit.

 

[LdiJ]

California,

Dear Gurus,

Yesterday me and my family went to Costco, San Jose, CA to eat pizza. We are strict vegetarian by religion and by birth. I ordered large veg pizza and were shell shocked when I found out after eating few slices that the pizza was pepperoni. We felt disgusted and felt extremely low that the meat which we avoided our whole life was thrown upon us and that of cow's (which is sacred in our religion) meat in just a matter of few minutes. We could not stop cursing ourselves. I explained the whole matter to the food manager - and he just took it so lightly that he just offered to replace it with another pizza in an extremely rude tone. I just walked out of the scene in utter distress.

Now I am thinking that can I sue Costco for all the wrong things they have done to me which includes making a mockery of my religion.

Any line in reply will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!!

Just as an FYI, pepperoni is not from cow meat.

 

[CdwJava]

Just as an FYI, pepperoni is not from cow meat.

Well, it has pork mixed in ... in delicious proportion to the beef.

 

[justalayman]

First, what was done was not mocking your religion (at least I suspect not). Most likely it was an accident.

As to suing; yes, you can. The problem is quantifying damages. While I suspect a sympathetic court is likely to award some level of damages, there is no way to determine how much that could be. In the US civil court system what can happen is the court could determine you win but award a nominal amount ($1) as a representation of your win. For some reason, although everybody will tell you all court cases are about the money, the courts have allowed a kind of a joke where winning can mean being awarded merely $1.

 

[CdwJava]

I think those $1 wins are more prevalent,perhaps,in federal court. A $1 win in federal court also means that the defendant pays the plaintiff's attorneys fees, as I understand it.

 

[cbg]

Pepperoni is usually quite visible. You couldn't SEE it before you ate it? That's a question that's going to be asked if you take this to court.

No one was mocking your religion. They didn't deliberately give you a pizza with meat on it to try to get you to violate your beliefs. It was a mistake, nothing more.

I understand how upset you are and I'm not making light of what happened. But truly, this was not done with intent to hurt you.

 

[justalayman]

I think those $1 wins are more prevalent,perhaps,in federal court. A $1 win in federal court also means that the defendant pays the plaintiff's attorneys fees, as I understand it.

it can happen anywhere though.

But this could likely be brought in federal court as well.

I believe the rule is if there is a settlement offer and it is rebuffed and the final award from the courts is less than the settlement offer, then the plaintiff is required to pay the defendants costs. If no settlemt offer is made or the court awards more than what is offered to settle, plaintiff is not liable for defedndsnts costs.

 

[ajkroy]

I've eaten at Costco. I'm pretty sure there's a cross-contamination warning sign at the counter.

 

[justalayman]

I've eaten at Costco. I'm pretty sure there's a cross-contamination warning sign at the counter.

Unless we are talking about a very small amount of peppperoni that errently ended up on the op's pizza this is not a matter of cross contamination. From the original post I read it as op was served a pepperoni pizza.

As to it being obvious;

That would surely play a large part in costco's defense if it was obvious. If the pepperoni was hidden under other toppings then it may be less of a defense for Costco.

 

[xylene]

I wasn't even aware costco offered veggie pizza.

There a number of other thread on 'wrongful meat'

I'm going to say to you though, that unless you are eating a very strict and dilligent vegan or vegetarian restaurant, there is a chance of eating the the flesh of an animal in some form or another.

Also - I really really doubt costco's pizza uses rennet free cheese.

 

[justalayman]

I wasn't even aware costco offered veggie pizza.

There a number of other thread on 'wrongful meat'

I'm going to say to you though, that unless you are eating a very strict and dilligent vegan or vegetarian restaurant, there is a chance of eating the the flesh of an animal in some form or another.

Also - I really really doubt costco's pizza uses rennet free cheese.

What difference does the rennet make? Cheese is made from the milk of animals. Rennet comes from the gut of an animal. Why would there be a need for rennet free cheese? It is as
vegetarian as cheese itself would be.

 

[quincy]

California,

... We are strict vegetarian by religion and by birth. I ordered large veg pizza and were shell shocked when I found out after eating few slices that the pizza was pepperoni. We felt disgusted and felt extremely low that the meat which we avoided our whole life was thrown upon us and that of cow's (which is sacred in our religion) meat in just a matter of few minutes. We could not stop cursing ourselves. I explained the whole matter to the food manager - and he just took it so lightly that he just offered to replace it with another pizza in an extremely rude tone ...

Now I am thinking that can I sue Costco for all the wrong things they have done to me which includes making a mockery of my religion ...

This is not from California but here is a New Jersey Appellate Court decision from 2011 about vegetarian samosas ordered that were filled with meat. The case addresses the problems in quantifying damages when the injuries suffered are spiritual ones - but the difficulty in determining damages does not preclude an actionable claim.

Gupta v. Asha Enterprises, LLC, 27 A.3d 953, NJ Appellate Div, 2011: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12155016352004516063&q=Moghul+Express&hl=en&as_sdt=4,31

There also was a case against McDonald's over their cooking oil, and there have been many suits originating in the prison system over prison foods.

I would think that pepperoni on a pizza would be fairly obvious so the consumption of the pepperoni would be more the fault of the eater than the provider. But that is just an opinion.

 

[TheGeekess]

This is not from California but here is a New Jersey Appellate Court decision from 2011 about vegetarian samosas ordered that were filled with meat. The case addresses the problems in quantifying damages when the injuries suffered are spiritual ones - but the difficulty in determining damages does not preclude an actionable claim.

Gupta v. Asha Enterprises, LLC, 27 A.3d 953, NJ Appellate Div, 2011: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12155016352004516063&q=Moghul+Express&hl=en&as_sdt=4,31

There also was a case against McDonald's over their cooking oil, and there have been many suits originating in the prison system over prison foods.

I would think that pepperoni on a pizza would be fairly obvious so the consumption of the pepperoni would be more the fault of the eater than the provider. But that is just an opinion.

Maybe, maybe not. Are they using the round slices or the little cubed versions of pepperoni that can hide like so many little ticking time bombs amongst the cheese, onions and olives?