Danger lurks around every corner, even at Chopt, beloved purveyor of Mexican Caesars and, that one time, a wrap with a dead rat inside. Aside from the rodent sandwich, it used to be that the biggest threats a person faced at Chopt were the prickly New Year’s resolution-holding hordes post-holiday season, but now a new peril has emerged at this corporate cuisine go-to: finding a finger tossed in with the leaves of your desk salad. That’s apparently what happened to a Connecticut woman, who is suing Chopt after discovering an employee’s left pointer in her lunch.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday, Greenwich native Allison Cozzi claims that she was enjoying a hefty arugula mix at the Mount Kisco Chopt in April when her teeth unexpectedly made contact with human flesh. This turned out to be the index finger of the store’s manager, who had accidentally cut it off while chopping lettuce. While the manager in question was sent to the hospital, Cozzi claims that, amid the ensuing chaos, nobody thought to remove the bloody tip from the arugula vat, and she, an unsuspecting customer, ended up chomping into it, sending her delicate balance of crispy and creamy into disarray. Per her lawsuit, the experience caused her “serious personal injuries” such as shock, panic attacks, migraines, traumatic stress, cognitive impairment, vomiting, and neck and shoulder pain.
Although Westchester County Health Department records show that Chopt was fined $900 for the incident, Cozzi is seeking unspecified damages for all that she has suffered. I can’t say I blame her — workday lunch is unpleasant enough without the looming specter of mistaking human bone for a piece of celery. Crunch, crunch!
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