The other night we had our friends over to watch Walking Dead and in honor of what happened in the season premiere we planned on serving Popeye’s Chicken. Get it? POP EYE? Well, even if you don’t, I am pretty sure that the number of times you have eaten Popeye’s (or any other fast food fried chicken for that matter) with a knife and fork is zero. Well Mississippi lawyer Paul Newton Jr. was in the same boat you put yourself in on purpose. No knife. No fork! Just a spork. And wouldn’t you know it, he LITERALLY bit off more than he could chew and choked! And then he decided he was going to sue them.
Newton said the only utensil he was given last November at the Gulfport restaurant was a spork. The lawsuit said that because Newton didn’t receive a plastic knife, his only option was to hold the piece of chicken with his hands and tear off pieces with his teeth, causing him to choke.
See why everyone hates lawyers? Dude can’t control how far he opens his mouth so it’s Popeye’s fault? What if someone gives him a drink with an ice cube in it? The jokes are pretty endless, but this guy apparently did have to have emergency surgery to get the hunk of chicken out of his throat. His lawsuit wanted damages and a new rule that Popeye’s give drive through customers knives.
But after public outrage and “extreme comments directed at him and his family” the lawyer has dropped the suit. And you know, I am not sure that’s right, either. Being able to file stupid lawsuits is part of the backbone of America. And if big companies find out that they can whip up the Internet to bully people into not suing, you think they won’t try it?
Remember the lady that sued McDonald’s because their coffee was hot and everyone made fun of her? It was in 1992 and their was no Internet but basically everyone said some variation of “derh”. But here are a few facts about that case I didn’t know until I looked them up for this story.
- McDonald’s required its franchisees to have its coffee be between 180 and 190 degrees.
- 190 degree coffee will cause 3rd degree burns in between 2-7 seconds.
- McDonald’s refused to pay her $10,000 medical bills prior to the court case. They offered $800.00
- The jury awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages because that was how much McDonald’s made selling coffee every two days.
- It was eventually dropped to less than $600k
So what do you think? Are we too litigious a society or do we need to be able to sue without fear of public ridicule because the alternative is a lack of justice? I know there are a lot of dumb lawsuits, but isn’t that for the courts to decide? Sound off below!
This is one of the absolute most stupid things I have ever heard. Nobody cuts up their fried chicken with a knife and fork, guy. Who are you kidding? Also, he went through the drive-through? And brought his chicken home to a house where, what, he had no silverware except the spork Popeye’s gave him? Dude, your silverware problems are not Popeye’s fault. Lastly, chew your food correctly. This should have been thrown out of court for pure stupidity. No.
No. Never. And this is why too many things have increased price because someone is too dumb to figure it out and then they either cost the company tons on a lawsuit, or worse a state legislature makes a new law requiring knives at every drive thru. I was thinking about something similar the other day, as I was getting up early and saw this flashing. It was the strobe on top of a school bus. A 40 foot long yellow bus with red lights all over it was not enough, they have to put a damned strobe on top to make sure that it is seen. (No, I do not know exactly why the strobe is there, nor could I give a shit).
GET OFF MY LAWN!
Lol this cracked me up!
He choked on his chicken and that was someone else’s fault?
Personally, biting off pieces from my chicken is the best way to go
Never heard this stories before today but it’s rather ridiculous that people went to court for them 😀
I heard about this today! People are crazy. I always say we are a “sue-happy” country
Why is it so easy to sue? There are a lot of costs involved. Do people really have money to throw away and think they are going to win their rediculous case?
So the chicken choked him ? Sounds like it was the other way around.. cuz he is a jerk off..
People just love suingin the USA. In Austria a judge would not entertain a case like this. Common sense is no longer very common.
This is stupid really. People will make a case and try to sue for anything basically, in the United States. You would think he’d have a lot more common sense being a lawyer.
I agree with Sheri, in US seems suing is like eating breakfast. They even remorseless sues their parents, through the simple disputes can be solve through mutual understanding as family. Its so sad that basic understanding as human are lost in US.
Oh not all hate lawyers. I love my lawyer friends 🙂
Good heavens you can file a suit for something that stupid! What happened to common sense!?
People need to chill on the dumb suing crap. It makes America look stupid.
And I got your Pop Eye reference 😉
That particular case was sad because she was elderly and needed surgery because of it! But in general, yes, I think people are way too quick to sue.
I’ve learned this a long time ago that people can sue but sometimes the case doesn’t go through. So this guy a long time ago sued God for not making it rain on a sunny day to prove it. You can sue anyone but it might not go through.
It’s crazy the things people will do for a buck. Thank you for sharing…..great eye reference by the way!
Sometimes I wish that I had enough money and a little bit of crazy to sue someone for something ridiculous haha. People can get away with so much these days! Chloe
I think it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round. Some are here to lead, some follow and others are here to entertain us.
People with too much time on their hands always find a reason to sue. Sad.
lol I love popeyes and thank for reminding me Glen’s poor fate in the show 🙁 this is funny to me although I would’ve just asked for a knife if I really wanted one. When it comes to public ridicule it is what it is. He knows what age of the internet we are on and its bound to happen not only to people suing for stupid stuff but people who put their business out there in general.
Well put
I thought the suit was stupid and a waste of the court’s time. Ridiculous lawsuits cost tax payers money in the long run. It is just another way people try to get out of taking responsibility for anything.
Oh America. Sue happy! So ridiculous the amount of lawsuits out there… and that people take advantage of the system.
I don’t want to judge whether people should not sue or not. It is up to a professional judge to analyze that. But what needs to be done is something about cyber bullying. It is outrageous how people are getting away with harassing other people on the internet especially during this election.
*I meant to say sue or not sue.
I’ve never had their food before but it does look good
That’s just crazy. People are insane
Oh Lord! How crazy it is to file case for something like this! I don’t want to give my opinion and I will leave it to professional judge!
I know a lot of people will just file a suit just to file one. Which it is crazy but others have legitimate law suits and are made fun of because of it so just stop. Why it is anyone elses business if they sue a company or not who knows.
I think we should never take advantage of law, and use it to get justice only. This great system is designed to help the society, not to damage it.
I am never sure what to think it seems we are all suit crazy when something happens
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Oh my goodness! That one looks tempting. I’m craving for this chicken.
I never thought that I could use this lawsuit to get a justice. Some people are insane.
People are easy to sue, especially in stupid things lol.
Agree with Akhil, we should never use law to get a justice.
That is just crazy, there are some things that should never have made it a court.
I’ve been watching the walking dead and I love Popeyes. It’s crazy what people sue about these days.
When ever I hear about such suing cases I always feel that people are just taking advantage of the system we have and infact many have started using it as a way to make some quick money. We love Popeye’s Chicken so much a great choice for movie nights!
I think this is really a first world problem. What this lawyer does not realize, many parts of the world actually have traditions with eating with bare hands. I do it, my family does it, and we love it. Do we sue anyone if we choke? Nope, because we know it’s not anybody’s fault. As for big companies persuading others to make people drop charges, I don’t think a company has that big of an impact especially if the companies are the ones guilty, but this is just a thought though.
I would have to agree. There are times wherein you’re going to question society for the lawsuits that they’re filing! I think this is hilarious but also sad for the companies that fell victim to the lawsuits.
People are crazy. Nowadays, we’ll sue over anything… Ay ay ay.
I can’t help but thinking of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer spilled hot coffee in his lap…:-) However, to answer your question, I totally think we are too litigious of a society!! I think we should be able to sue, but it has gotten out of control in the past decade.
It’s the days and times… if you’re going to sue, you have to know you risk public ridicule. Nothing you can do about it, if the press catches wind of it (or anyone) and puts it online, it could easily take off running. The facts about the McDonald’s coffee case are interesting.
This is a nightmare
The service industry will die I’d this goes on for long.
This is why insurance premiums are so high. People like this.