Can I sue a fast food company for adding bacon to my burger without me asking for it and me getting sick from it and missing work?
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Can I sue a fast food company for adding bacon to my burger without me asking for it and me getting sick from it and missing work?
I don’t eat pork at all. Now I’m missing wages for eating something I did not ask for.
Asked on June 18, 2014 under Personal Injury, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
No, you almost certainly cannot sue:
1) There is no "proximate cause"--that is the causal link is far too tenuous and will not support liability. It is not foreseeable that a person to whom you gave bacon would react so badly to it as to miss work; the facts you describe are incredibly rare or unlikely. People (and businesses) are only liable for the reasonably foreseeable consequences of their acts.
2) Your own negligence or carelessness (not looking at the burger or noticing the bacon) would undercut any liability they might have--your own fault effectively reduces their fault.
3) All you can sue for is your actual losses, not punitive damages, in a case like this. Say you missed a day of work due to feeling sick--even IF there had been liability, would one day worth of wages justify the time, cost (you'd have to hire a medical expert to testify as to the cause of your illness) and effort of a lawsuit?
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