A Connecticut woman is suing fast-casual salad chain Chopt after she allegedly ate a salad that contained part of an employee's severed finger.
According to a lawsuit obtained by NBC News, Allison Cozzi of Greenwich, Connecticut, claims that the experience caused her to suffer various injuries, including nausea, dizziness, neck and shoulder pain, as well as shock and panic attacks.
Chopt Creative Salad Company did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
The entire incident occurred on April 7, 2023, at a Chopt location in Mount Kisco, New York, after a manager severed her left pointer finger while cutting arugula. According to the lawsuit, the manager was treated at a hospital, but the contaminated arugula was served to customers and Cozzi, who realized something was amiss when she began to chew “on a portion of a human finger that had been mixed into and made a part of, the salad.”
Westchester County Health Department’s board of health cases show that Chopt was fined $900 for failing to avoid imminent health hazards.
Cozzi is now seeking monetary compensation.
According to its website, Chopt Creative Salad Company was founded in 2001 in New York City and has over 70 locations across the United States. In addition to salad, its locations serve grain bowls and sandwiches.
In August, a Michigan man filed a lawsuit against Olive Garden, alleging that he also found a body part in his meal. The appendage in that incident belonged to a rat. According to the lawsuit, the man accused the restaurant chain of “failure to maintain premises free of vermin and the negligent preparation and service of food” after he was served a rat’s foot in a bowl of minestrone soup.
