civil-law food
Can I sue a restaurant for serving me meat in vegetarian dish?
<p>I am a vegetarian for religious reasons. I was at Chipotle on Saturday and ordered a sofritas rice bowl which is "vegan approved". To my surprise, I found a chunk of chicken in my bowl when I was halfway through eating it. Made me feel sick to the stomach realizing that I may have eaten chicken already.</p>

<p>Went back to the Order desk and showed the server meat in my bowl. They immediately offered a refund and asked if I wish to file a complaint. The manager brought out a complaint form and filled for me. Gave me a copy as well. I did not take any refund. just walked out, I was very upset.</p>

<p>My question is: Can I take a legal action against Chipotle?</p>

<p>An essential component of your contract with them is that they will provide you with food free of animal stuff (the exact nature of "vegan approved" may be up for debate, but actual meat should not be included). So they breached their contract with you, and you might sue them for breach of contract.</p>

<p>The case of <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/nj-superior-court-appellate-division/1574567.html" rel="noreferrer">Gupta v. Asha</a> (orders were mixed up) could be useful in this matter. In this case, Hindus were served samosas containing beef, despite repeated assertions that they were vegetarian. Plaintiffs sued, the case was dismissed, and the appeals court deemed that the lower court was part right and part wrong.</p>

<p>The important thing to understand is that you have to claim a specific legal wrong (and your attorney would advise you about that). Those plaintiffs made a claim under NJ product liability law, and that was dismissed because the product wasn't defective, it was simply the wrong product.</p>

<p>They also made a claim regarding fraud, and there was at least a legal question behind that claim, but because there was no ascertainable loss (e.g. the plaintiffs were not hospitalized because of the omission), so that claim too was dismissed. Likewise a negligence claim was dismissed.</p>

<p>Plaintiffs did get to first base w.r.t. the claim of emotional distress arising from breach of contract. I have no evidence regarding the final disposition of the case: the point is that there might be a legal basis for a lawsuit in your state, but you would need to secure the paid assistance of an attorney.</p>

<p>The goal of civil proceedings is to make the injured party whole.</p>

<p>Your damages amount to the cost of the meal that you ordered. You have no other demonstrable, concrete damages. If you were, for example, so deeply emotionally scarred by eating the food Chipotle offered that you developed an eating disorder and needed to see a therapist, you could probably sue for the cost of the therapy (or your insurance would do it for you). As it stands, your damages are the cost of the meal.</p>
