A woman suing the Chop't salad chain says she 'was chewing on a portion of a human finger' mixed into her arugula
Eliza McKelvey/Business Insider
- A woman is suing the Chop't salad chain says she chewed on a severed human finger in her salad.
- An employee chopped a portion of her left pointer finger into arugula, according to the suit.
- Allison Cozzi filed a lawsuit Monday after her April experience in the Mt. Kisco, NY, location.
A Greenwich, Connecticut woman is suing the fast-casual salad chain, Chop't, after she says she discovered a portion of an employee's severed finger mixed into her meal.
Allison Cozzi visited the Chop't location in Mt. Kisco, New York, on April 7 and as she ate her salad she realized she was "chewing on a portion of a human finger" that was mixed into her salad, her complaint alleges.
Earlier that day, a manager at the store chopped a piece of her finger off while cutting arugula and left for the hospital, the complaint, filed Monday in a Westchester County court, says.
The contaminated arugula was left on the service line and served to customers, according to the lawsuit.
Cozzi is accusing the restaurant of negligence, and says that it caused her injuries including "severe and serious personal injuries, including shock, panic attacks, migraine and the exacerbation of migraine, cognitive impairment, traumatic stress and anxiety, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and neck and shoulder pain."
The restaurant was cited for health code violation by the Westchester County Department of Health, according to the complaint. The Chop't location was fined $900 in September, for violating a code that requires food establishments to operate in a way to "avoid imminent health hazards," according to the complaint and public records seen by Business Insider.
A message seeking comment left with the Mt. Kisco Chop't location was not immediately returned.
Cozzi's attorney Marc Reibman declined to comment on her behalf.
"She is not interested in anything that is going to increase the stress or anxiety that this has caused her," he said.