Woman who found finger at Wendy's files claim against franchise

The San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | BRIAN SKOLOFF

[soundandvision]

A woman who bit down on a partial finger served in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant in California said she was disgusted by the experience while her attorney has filed a claim with the franchise owner.

Anna Ayala, 39, of Las Vegas, was dining at the Wendy's in San Jose, Calif., on March 22 when officials said she scooped up the inch-and-a-half long fingertip in a mouthful of chili.

"Just knowing that there was a human remain in my mouth ... it is disgusting. It is tearing me apart inside," Ayala told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.

[sierrahome]

Okay, this whole story is a nail-biter but lets knuckle down and eat our chili. Besides it's the best in town hands down.

[soundandvision]

Same thing I'm wondering...

[andyk]

it's not like watching your best buddy blown to bits in Iraq, it's not like watching your daughter die slowly of starvation

There's some outstanding perspective.

[andyk]

People don`t get a good hunk of finger hacked off and it goes un-noticed.

This was my initial reaction. It just can't happen! Someone loses a finger on the line, everything stops. If you can't find the finger, out goes the product!

[WayneM]

What kind of person loses an inch and a half of their finger and doesn't report it.

An illegal alien working in a meat packing house somewhere in the southeast or midwest USA.

The guy who lost the finger is afraid to report it because he is here illegally. His employer doesn't want him to report it for the same reason.

The illegal gets one or two thousand bucks as payment for losing the finger and keeping quiet about it. The employer gets to keep his illegal low cost labor and his contract with Wendy's (at least until Wendy's traces the meat back the supplier).

[soundandvision]

Fear is obviously not a factor for you

ROFLMMFAO

[atomicweeder]

I've read about many lawsuits where I would gladly undergo the same treatment for less. For example, a woman in Alexandria Virginia was mistakenly kept in city jail all weekend. She was falsely accused of theft and drug charges (she had a long record -- but she was actually innocent that weekend). Anyway, the court awarded her $50,000 for her weekend in jail. I'd have slept there all weekend (free meals)for $25,000!

[azhenfud]

"Just knowing that there was a human remain in my mouth ... it is disgusting. It is tearing me apart inside,"

For her suit, give her a high four and a half!

[dljordan]

"Is anyone else growing suspicious of this claim? I don't know...but something just don't smell right."

You think she smuggled her own cut-off finger in?

[soundandvision]

Okay, this whole story is a nail-biter but lets knuckle down and eat our chili. Besides it's the best in town hands down.

ROFLMMFAO

[savedbygrace]

What about all the other people who ate the chili there around the same time? I'd be getting the freak out if I were one of those people.

Might even take down the name of her attorney . . .

[Servant of the 9]

For once I'm okay with a suit against a company.

Me too.

I also want to know where the rest of the body is.

SO9

[Polybius]

For once I'm okay with a suit against a company.

Somwhere, maybe hundred or thousands of miles away from that restaurant, somebody lost that finger in an accident. Both the company and the patron were affected by that far away accident.

What did the restaurant company do wrong and, if you owned the company, what could you do to ensure that this does not happen again?

Accidents happen. Why does somebody always have to be entitled to money for them?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"And free Wendys chili for the rest of her life!"

Spoon-fed to her by John Kerry, LOL!

How could someone's finger go missing and Wendy's or even OSHA didn't know about it? I mean, when someone in the kitchen loses a finger chunk, you'd think that in ITSELF would be yet another lawsuit? Is there an entire employee missing somewhere along the line? In Wisconsin, we had a perceived "snitch" at a paper factory thrown into a vat of paper pulp buy a group of UNION workers. It happens.

Is the chili made at each individual restaurant, or is it shipped in from some big factory?

Details! I need details! :)

[WillVoteForFood]

"Sorry doesn't reattach thumbs Marge".

Homer Simpson

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

The woman should settle out of court for a nice quarter-million. Sometimes mistakes happen. The woman didn't die or suffer any type of long-term illness, for crying out loud.

Unfortunately the lawyers are going to punish Wendy's into nonexistence.

[doug from upland]

If Lorena Bobbitt worked in the kitchen, it could have been worse.

[TommyDale]

I remember once going in to an Arby's for a roast beef sandwich, and the guy who cuts the thin slices of meat had a bandage on his finger! I decided to eat elsewhere...

[EX52D]

That would be my bet...