When sitting down at your favorite fast food restaurant, the last thing you should expect is finding a foreign object in your favorite burger or burrito. However, as disturbing as it sounds, these things happen, and when they do you as a victim of this incident can sue the restaurant for any damages you have may have sustained. With the help of an attorney experienced in suing restaurants, you could receive significant monetary compensation. At Downtown LA Law Firm our experienced Los Angeles lawyers can guide you through the process of not only determining the value of your foreign object in food lawsuit against a restaurant but help you get all the compensation you deserve. If you have any questions after reading this article, please feel free to contact our law offices for a free consultation by one of our skilled associates.

Foreign Objects in Food

Finding a foreign object in your food can be incredibly traumatizing. A foreign object can be anything that a consumer should not reasonably expect to be found during consumption. This can be things like, rocks, glass, nails, rat feces, and other harmful objects that may wind up in your food. An ingredient that was not listed on the food and the consumer did not expect to can be considered a foreign object as well. However, some courts have rejected cases wherein the plaintiff was suing for objects that can reasonably be found in food, like fish bones in the soup, or cherry pits in cherries. Restaurants are expected to follow all state, county, and municipal health regulations. When restaurants violate said regulations, like having foreign objects in their food, authorities can fine the restaurant or shut them down temporarily or permanently. Restaurants that serve the public are expected to do everything they can to make sure their customers do not get injured while dining at their restaurant. Some common injuries from consuming a foreign object in your food include:

• Cuts in the mouth and throat
• Damaged teeth
• Illness due to ingestion
• Adverse allergic reaction to ingredients not supposed to be in the food
• Lacerations by sharp objects found in the food that was not expected earlier.

No matter what damages you have sustained, if you consumed a foreign object while eating a meal prepared by a restaurant, you have every right to pursue legal action and seek a sizeable compensation payout for any of the damages sustained.

You & Your Case

Typically when clients come into our law firm asking for the value of their case, we suspect that they already have an attorney that they are not presently satisfied with. Regardless of this, we treat these clients like any other and are more than willing to satisfy any of the legal needs they may have. Some of the common questions these clients ask are:

• “How much is a foreign object in food lawsuit worth?”
• “How much is a foreign object in food case worth?”
• “What is the value of my case if I found something in my food?”

To answer these questions and questions like them, we typically require a thorough examination of a clients particular case. This is because it can be incredibly challenging to generalize an average settlement value of a foreign object in food case. The value of any one particular case depends on some factors that make up said case. For instance, a case that involves someone suffering throat lacerations from a nail found in a cheeseburger is going to receive more compensation than someone who found a fish bone in their food. This lack of approximation also applies to case averages as there is no telling whether the average will apply to your particular case. That is not to say that finding the case value, or average settlement value is impossible. The best way to find out a rough estimate is to calculate the compensable damages that make up your case. These compensable damages fit into three separate categories: economic damages, noneconomic damages, and punitive damages. Economic damages usually make up the majority of a cases’ worth as they are formed by the combination of specific monetary damages that have a discernable monetary amount. Some of these common economic damages are listed as follows:

• Past & Future Medical Expenses: These are the costs that a victim must endure for the hospitalization of the initial injury and any further treatment needed in the future because of this injury. These expenses often make up a significant portion of a settlement value.
• Loss of Income: These compensatory damages meant to reimburse the victim for any wages lost from the injuries. This amount can be determined through a thorough examination of the victim’s salary history and often includes sick and vacation time.
• Loss of Potential Income: Sometimes injuries can be so severe that the victim may lose the ability to perform at the same level they had before their injuries. To determine this amount, a complicated formula is used that involves the examination of the victim’s projected earnings and the impact that the damages may have had on the victim’s ability to find and perform future work.

Noneconomic damages are, in most cases, difficult to place a specific monetary amount on as they do not have any specific value. However, the best way to determine the level of noneconomic damages in your case is to consult with a legal representative experienced in the field applying to your case. Some common forms of noneconomic damages include:

• Pain and suffering: This damage is compensated to a victim based on the pain and suffering they endured from their injuries. This amount is often calculated by the use of a pain multiplier that has the victim identify their level of pain on a scale of one to ten.
• Emotional Distress: This form of compensation is offered to victims that have experienced any emotional trauma suffered due to the injuries. The compensable amount of emotional distress often varies from state to state.
• Loss of Consortium: Loss of consortium is often added to the value of your case when the injuries are so severe that the victim’s loved ones are deprived of a normal loving relationship and companionship

Lastly, punitive damages can be added to the value of your case to punish the defendant for their prior actions and to deter them from engaging in similar actions in the future. In most cases, seeking punitive damages can be somewhat challenging, and a lesser attorney will often settle a case without seeking these damages for this exact reason. However, at Downtown LA Law Firm we make sure that all of our clients receive all of the resources necessary to pursue all of the damages that they demand; punitive damages included.

About Downtown LA Law Firm

Having a skilled attorney on your side can make the difference between filing a successful claim for compensation and having your lawsuit dismissed from court entirely. At Downtown LA Law Firm our experienced personal injury attorneys are committed to making sure our clients receive all the resources necessary to pursue a successful suit. Our attorneys practice in San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, Bakersfield, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento and throughout the state of California.

Free Second Opinions

Some attorneys are lazy and will sign you up to their firm but will disappear once your name is on the paper as they are busy signing up more cases. In these instances, their business is based more on volume and will attempt to sign up as many cases as possible. In turn, they will spend less time on cases resulting in severely reduced settlements. Our firm will not treat you like a number. We will be in communication with you throughout our lawsuit and will treat you like family. So if you already have an attorney don’t worry, we’ll give you a second review of your case 100% free of charge.

Zero Fee Guarantee-No Upfront Fees Ever

If you contact our law offices today, we can walk you through the complicated process of filing your claim completely free of charge. As a show this commitment to you and your case we offer our clients the benefits of a zero fee guarantee policy. Under our zero fee policy, all clients don’t pay for our services until their case is won. If you feel in need of a second opinion, second opinion case reviews are also free under this policy. Please, feel free to give us a call, and we can guide you down the path of receiving proper compensation for your damages.