Death by shrimp
Oh Kaaay... Here is a news story from
Yahoo/Law regarding a Mr. Jerry Colaitis of Old Brookville, N.Y. who passed away five months after dodging a flying shrimp:
bq.
Benihana Chef's Playful Food Toss Blamed for Diner's Death
A piece of grilled shrimp flung playfully by a Japanese hibachi chef toward a tableside diner is being blamed for causing the man's death.
bq. Making a proximate-cause argument, the lawyer for the deceased man's estate has alleged that the man's reflexive response -- to duck away from the flying food -- caused a neck injury that required surgery.
bq. Complications from that first operation necessitated a second procedure. Five months later, Jerry Colaitis of Old Brookville, N.Y., was dead of an illness that his family claims was proximately caused by the injury.
And Benihana's response:
bq. Benihana has denied all of the complaint's material allegations. In other papers filed with the court, defense attorney Andrew B. Kaufman also questioned whether Colaitis was trying to avoid the flying shrimp or catch it in his mouth.
The story:
bq. According to Ferenzo, Colaitis, a furrier in his early 40s, had gathered with his wife, two sons and four stepdaughters to celebrate one of the boys' birthdays.
bq. Tableside cooking and chefs' showmanship have been a trademark of the Benihana chain since it opened its first U.S. steak house in 1964. Seated around one of Benihana's trademark hibachi dinner tables, the family watched as a chef diced the food as he cooked it.
bq. Ferenzo said that the chef began flipping pieces of hot food toward the diners, once burning one of Colaitis' sons. Asked to stop, the attorney said, the chef responded only with a smile and allegedly continued tossing morsels at his patrons.
bq. When the chef flipped a piece of shrimp at Colaitis, he allegedly ducked away, injuring two vertebra in his neck. Doctors reportedly told Colaitis that if he did not have corrective surgery, another injury to the same disks might leave him paralyzed.
bq. The first operation was in June 2001, six months after the Benihana dinner. A second procedure was performed two weeks later.
bq. In succeeding months Colaitis developed a high fever and problems with his breathing and memory. He died in a hospital five months after the second surgery, on Nov. 22, 2001.
The guy dies of a nosocomial infection --but-- he would not have been in the hospital if the chef had listened to his request and stopped flinging bits of food at their party. I would side with his attorneys - Benihana was at fault. An accident for sure but they initiated the chain of events that caused the guys death and the Chef was --very-- negligent for not stopping the food tossing.
Posted by DaveH at November 23, 2004 10:42 PM