Category: State Courts

  • Florida Diner Claims Restaurant’s Negligence Led to Artichoke-Induced Injury

    A Florida man has sued a Houston’s restaurant and its manager for failing to train servers to explain to patrons how to eat grilled artichokes, contending that their negligence led to his hospitalization and exploratory bowel surgery. Carvajal v. Hillstone Restaurant Group, Inc., No. 10-57757 CA 03 (Fla. Cir. Ct., Miami Dade Cty., filed October…

  • Menu Labeling Claims Under Prop. 65 Can Proceed in California

    The California Supreme Court has denied a petition for review filed by fast food restaurants seeking to overturn an intermediate appellate court ruling allowing further proceedings on claims that they violated Proposition 65 by selling grilled chicken products to consumers without appropriate warnings about carcinogens created by the cooking process. Physicians Comm. for Responsible Med.…

  • Challenge to California’s Referendum Procedure Presented in Amicus Brief

    According to a news source, an appellate lawyer in California has submitted an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming that the state’s ballot initiative process, adopted 99 years ago, was improperly voted into law. He has asked the court to certify the question to the California Supreme Court. This issue arose…

  • Batali and Bastianich Targeted in New Restaurant Worker Lawsuit

    Twenty-seven waiters, busboys and others at New York City’s Del Posto restaurant have reportedly filed a lawsuit against owner Mario Batali and partners Joseph and Lidia Bastianich, claiming that they were not paid a legal wage. The plaintiffs allege that the restaurant’s managers pooled workers’ tips in violation of state labor laws and wrongfully withheld…

  • Florida Consumers Bring Fraud Claims Against EVOO Companies

    A putative class alleging that the extra virgin olive oil sold in the United States does not meet the “extra virgin” standard has filed consumer fraud claims against several of the largest importers of the product in a state court in Florida. Nachio v. Am. Rice, Inc., No. 10-33154 (Fla. Cir. Ct., filed August 13, 2010).…

  • Chicago Jury Awards $30.4 Million to Diacetyl-Exposed Factory Worker

    According to a news source, a man who worked in a Chicago-area plant for eight years and was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans has been awarded $30.4 million on claims that workplace exposure to the butter-flavoring chemical diacetyl left him with 25 percent of normal lung capacity that will require a lung transplant within the next 10…

  • Restaurant Workers Sue Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich

    Renowned restaurateurs Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich have reportedly been sued by workers in their East and West Coast restaurants. A complaint filed in late July 2010 by current and former employees of New York City’s Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca was amended to include a class of employees who work in five additional east coast…

  • Plaintiff Class Alleges POM Wonderful® Will Not Keep Consumers Young Forever

    A putative class action has been filed against the maker of POM Wonderful® pomegranate (PWP) juice in a Florida state court, alleging that the company is misleading consumers by marketing its product “as having special health benefits, including but not limited to, the prevention, mitigation, and or treatment of the following: (a) atherosclerosis; (b) Blood…