Putting the Sue in Sushi

Ah, the joys of All You Can Eat. If you don't eat it you bring down the wrath of sushi, and then it's All You Can Sue.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-lazarus-20110218,0,6087649.column

I was trying to think of something clever to say, but this is so preposterous that it's plugged up my clever brain cells.

So should AYCE places require that you have a clean plate before ordering more?

There was an all-you-can-eat Sushi place near where I once lived in S.F. where customers had to initial an agreement to pay a fine for all food taken and not eaten.

I am diabetic, and I avoid quantities of pasta, rice, bread, etc. However, the amount of rice in sushi, unless you are eating piled high plates of it, is not a threat to a diabetic( In MOST cases) I allow for carbs when I want a treat .On my b-day, I allowed for a huge piece of german chocolate cake-but at dinner prior I had a steak and vegetables. My blood sugar was fine all day upon reading. This man is a fool.

I know exactly how to handle this guy, it involves baseball.

When I visit an 'all you can eat' establishment, I am not required to clean my plate before getting more food that I really want.
 
Personally, I think anyone who eats raw fish is crazy anyway, so the man needs a shrink, not a lawsuit.

Dimmie2, there are many who eat and enjoy sushi.  Just as many enjoy the food at Sonic's.
 

I'm with the restaurant owner on this one.
 
Eat all you want restaurants will charge people who leave a great deal of food on their plates.  This is not different.
 
I like many forms of raw fish.  

Yes Mar, you are crazy!  :)

I didn't say there was anything wrong with folks eating sushi. 
 
The idea of eat any meat raw is not something I would enjoy.

dimmie2


I didn't say there was anything wrong with folks eating sushi.  

You didn't say this? "Personally, I think anyone who eats raw fish is crazy anyway, so the man needs a shrink, not a lawsuit."

It is my understanding that not ALL sushi is made with raw fish, so I could enjoy some sushi myself... just not the rolls that contain raw meat.

Michael Hoffman

dimmie2


I didn't say there was anything wrong with folks eating sushi.  

You didn't say this? "Personally, I think anyone who eats raw fish is crazy anyway, so the man needs a shrink, not a lawsuit."

 
Nowhere was it written that being crazy or needing a shrink is wrong.
 
Brad

All that aside, what annoys and irritates me is that we are becoming a nation of litigants and it all began with the twelve idiots that awarded the nitwit that spilled hot coffee in her lap an obscene amount of money for just being stupid.

here here! I agree with brisketboy!

So happy to sue the sushi place..this man must be. What a total MOFO. Even more so, the lawyer who took the case. 

You cannot swing a dead cat and not hit some unscupulous lawyer willing to bankrup his soul and your wallet no matter how frivolous the basis of the lawsuit is. This is why when you purchase any article be it tool or appliance that the disclaimers are longer than the instruction manual. But consider, for every disclaimer some idiot performed that very act. Like hey... don't answer the iron.
OK I'm done.

It is ridiculous. I have been to many AYCE sushi bars over the years (and may be going back to one of my favorites tonight). All of them have on the AYCE menu the notation that there is no take-out, you MUST eat the rice and that you will be charged for any food left uneaten on the plate. They always state that you should only order a bit at a time to not overload the plate (and the sushi chef!). To me, it's only common sense anyways. Why waste food? And as for the sashimi---most plates state specifically that sashimi is not included in AYCE. Some even have menus for the AYCE that state what is included so there is no question.
This is just another jerk trying to make a buck off a ridiculous lawsuit. 

So I did wind up going for sushi last night. Delicious, as usual. And of course, posted along the bar, were these signs. They are typical of the signs I've seen in the AYCE sushi places.

Our litigious society is out of control.

Hear Hear. Two sure things I have learned in my years on earth. 1 you cannot legislate morality. 2 you cannot fix stupid.

brisketboy
All that aside, what annoys and irritates me is that we are becoming a nation of litigants and it all began with the twelve idiots that awarded the nitwit that spilled hot coffee in her lap an obscene amount of money for just being stupid.

Ah, the skill of McDonald's spin doctors. The suit was legitimate, but a bunch of lies were spread about it. The coffee was dangerously hot (much hotter than coffee is conventionally served) and hotter than the cup was rated to hold. McDonald's had been warned about it from lesser injuries (the woman in question needed skin grafts). Internal memos showed that the coffee was purposefully overheated to hide the cheap coffee they used. And a number of lies were spread; for example, contrary to McDonald's spin doctors, the woman was not driving, she was not even in the driver's seat, and the car was not moving when the accident took place.
 
Oh, and finally, she didn't even receive enough to pay for her medical bills.
 
Bart

This should become general knowledge, not that I care much for Crackdonald's. Like Hitler said: tell people enough lies and it becomes truth.

bartl

brisketboy
All that aside, what annoys and irritates me is that we are becoming a nation of litigants and it all began with the twelve idiots that awarded the nitwit that spilled hot coffee in her lap an obscene amount of money for just being stupid.

Ah, the skill of McDonald's spin doctors. The suit was legitimate, but a bunch of lies were spread about it. The coffee was dangerously hot (much hotter than coffee is conventionally served) and hotter than the cup was rated to hold. McDonald's had been warned about it from lesser injuries (the woman in question needed skin grafts). Internal memos showed that the coffee was purposefully overheated to hide the cheap coffee they used. And a number of lies were spread; for example, contrary to McDonald's spin doctors, the woman was not driving, she was not even in the driver's seat, and the car was not moving when the accident took place.

Oh, and finally, she didn't even receive enough to pay for her medical bills.

Bart

 
The final settlement details were never disclosed as part of the out of court deal reached between the parties, so no one knows the actual dollar amounts. The industry standard for holding temperature of coffee was and is 175 to 185 degrees, so the coffee wasn't much hotter than "normal" if at all. The woman injured was holding the plastic cup between her knees when she opened the top, not really very prudent behavior by most reasonable standards.

bartl

Ah, the skill of McDonald's spin doctors. The suit was legitimate, but a bunch of lies were spread about it. The coffee was dangerously hot (much hotter than coffee is conventionally served) and hotter than the cup was rated to hold. i remember getting coffee back in the day sometimes that was so hot you had to let it sit for 20 minutes before you could drink it...i wouldnt call that dangerous, just a hot azz cup of coffee....EVERYONE knows coffee is hot and is going to burn you if spilled, heck, i knew it by the age of 5, what was so special in her case ? and i promise you, the rating on that cup was for the "in house" commercial aspect of it....that rating had nothing to do with consumer safety.....NOTHING...... if the coffee wasnt hot enough to melt the cup, then it wasnt too hot
 
McDonald's had been warned about it from lesser injuries (the woman in question needed skin grafts). Internal memos showed that the coffee was purposefully overheated to hide the cheap coffee they used. And a number of lies were spread; for example, contrary to McDonald's spin doctors, the woman was not driving, she was not even in the driver's seat, and the car was not moving when the accident took place. are you really saying that micky d's actually lied against themselves ??

Oh, and finally, she didn't even receive enough to pay for her medical bills. i find this very hard to believe 

Bart

im curious, how is it you know so much about this, and in the 20ish years since it happened, why is it that you are the only one i have ever heard say these things ?

That lawsuit was all over the media when it happened. Most of us read the details at the time. And the details did change as is customary in the press...

I find the skin grafts part hard to believe.  Coffee is mostly water so its temperature could not be over 212 degrees.  And it would quickly spread out and cool down.  A need for skin graphs usually results from contact with thick, sticky, overheated substances. 

All this aside, the original point I wanted to make was that we have become a nation that will sue at the drop of a hat. All the pointless waste of time lawsuits that get tied up in court for years and waste thousands of dollars. Lets don't kid ourselves, in any lawsuit award the lawyers get the money. The plaintiff gets squat and oft times the defendant is dishonored and broke. What is the difference between an attourney and a bottom feeder? One's a lawyer and the other's a fish.

brisketboy


All this aside, the original point I wanted to make was that we have become a nation that will sue at the drop of a hat. All the pointless waste of time lawsuits that get tied up in court for years and waste thousands of dollars. Lets don't kid ourselves, in any lawsuit award the lawyers get the money. The plaintiff gets squat and oft times the defendant is dishonored and broke. What is the difference between an attourney and a bottom feeder? One's a lawyer and the other's a fish.

And the answer is simple- If you're an individual being sued -do NOT hire an attorney, represent yourself- pro se- most jurys hate lawyers & will take the side of a pro se defendant over an ambulance chasing plaintiff attorney any day of the week

I saw a Throwdown once where Flay went against the greatest west coast sushi guy and as he explained it sushi is a catch all word that has come to mean raw fish and rice wrapped in seaweed. His explanation was that the term sushi described the vinegared rice used to make the sushi rolls, the fish and/or vegetables were incidental. But what do I kniow, I'm just an old white guy.