Posted on 04/13/2011 1:39:20 PM PDT by Mountain Bike Vomit Carnage
An Oak Park couple is suing the Applebees restaurant chain after their toddler was inadvertently served a margarita instead of apple juice.
Taylor Dill-Reese and Dominic Wilson filed a lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court seeking in excess of $25,000 in damages after their 15-month-old son, Dominic Wilson Jr., consumed alcohol on Friday at the Applebees Neighborhood Grill and Bar on 14 Mile in Madison Heights.
Were asking for some accountability, said Southfield attorney William Stern, representing the parents and the boy. This could have turned out very badly.
The boys parents had ordered him a kids meal a small hamburger, fries and apple juice in a sippy cup, then noticed him acting peculiarly. The father tasted the drink and realized it contained alcohol. A police investigation found the apple juice was actually margarita mix containing alcohol. Police say the bottles were mislabeled.
The child was taken to William Beaumont Hospital, where lab tests showed traces of alcohol in his system. The child has since recovered and is at home with his parents.
The incident made national headlines. Applebee's has apologized, and pledged to put into place safeguards to prevent future accidents. A spokesperson did not immediately return phone calls this afternoon.
The suit filed Tuesday seeks compensation for emotional distress and well as reimbursement for medical expenses. The case has been assigned to Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Nanci Grant.
I agree. Pay the uninsured medical cost - even though an emergency room visit was pretty stupid - and even the current IRS mileage rate for the drive. And write them a note saying you’re sorry.
“Emotional distress”? Please. I’m sure they were gleefully counting the potential payoff the minute they realized their child had consumed alcohol.
The bottle was marked apple juice. It contained margarita mix. Very simple mistake to make, but bartenders need to be more careful. All the bottles are opaque and you cannot see what you’re pouring.
I dunno. When I was a little girl back in the early 50’, my mom and dad would have a cocktail when we went to dinner. Of course, I was ordered a Shirley Temple which I normally slugged down immediately. When my drink arrived, I drank it. Our dinner came and I went to eat my hamburger and the insides slipped out then I fell on the floor. My mother was mortified. I vaguely remember the incident but my mother did and it truly embarrassed my normally very prim/proper mother (he he) served her right.
Why would you take a child to a bar and grill? Take the child to McDonald’s where they can have some fun.
If you want to eat at a bar and grill, get a babysitter.
LOL!
The local news said his blood alcohol was .10.
Sueing. What a crock. I would have demanded free meals and put my kid to bed, I would have been PO’d for sure, But sue? Give me a friggin’ break!
This could have turned out very badly.
IOW, nothing happened, there were no damages except the inevitable “negligent infliction of emotional distress”, and that means this attorney’s just an attention whore looking for a quick score.
Colonel, USAFR
>>>Like you cant see the difference between apple juice and a margarita?
Are the sippy cups clear at Applebee’s? Per the story, the kid got a sippy cup.
“I’ll have what SHE’s Having!”
Sippy cup likely one from the restaurant, which means a typical kid cup with plastic top, neither of which are normally transparent. That being the case, I can buy that the parents did not realize the drink being consumed was not apple juice. Since the police found the bottles at Applebees were mislabeled, I do think there is fault on the part of Applebees in this matter. A .10 blood alcohol level is not insignificant for a 15 month old.
Applebees should probably count their blessings the suit is only for 25K.
In a way, though, maybe we can't really blame the parents ... they're probably CYA-ing against some nanny-state loving p.c a$$wipe reporting them to CPS for 'allowing' their kid to consume alcohol - the results of which would be them having the kid taken away and being prosecuted for child abuse.
I really wish that Americans would wise up about alcohol and stop being so damned puritanical about it. That's one of the few things the Euros get right ... maybe we should take a lesson from them.
I too am the victim of something, something I do not remember that has caused me to live a life of libertine debauchery. Feels good to have it out in the open, huh?
Were the parents brain dead?
The server poured it into a sippy cup, so no, the parents likely didn't look at the beverage itself.
Better watch out Shyster, the kid's got a rap sheet.
Glad the parents didn’t hit a Leftist-ordained sobriety checkpoint. The parents would have been arrested for child abuse!
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