Woman sues McDonald’s over glass in sandwich

By Reuters
Posted Feb. 11 at 4:14 p.m.

A woman sued McDonald’s Corp , Friday, saying she was injured after chewing on a “large shard of glass” inside her spicy McChicken sandwich.

Vjollca Lecaj said she suffered severe and permanent oral injuries, as well as “great pain and anguish,” after biting into and chewing the glass last Aug. 5 at a McDonald’s in Oak Lawn, Illinois, near Chicago.

A spokeswoman for McDonald’s did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court said Lecaj’s sandwich may have been contaminated after an overheated glass coffee pot exploded, causing glass shards to scatter.

Lecaj accused the world’s largest fast-food chain of failing to properly inspect its cooking equipment and ensure that her sandwich could be eaten safely.

She is seeking more than $50,000 in damages. McDonald’s is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

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34 comments:

  1. jano Feb. 11 at 5:09 pm

    And another lawsuit! Nice Job lady. Why must we all get greedy?

  2. cait Feb. 11 at 5:18 pm

    ‘Cuz we BROKE, jano! (an’ greedy…) Duh…

  3. Bob Huber Feb. 11 at 6:08 pm

    I don’t believe in frivolous lawsuits, but this one seems like it should have been filed. Jano, cait…would you just let it go if you bit into a Big Mac with glass? I don’t think so. Everyone has a price, even you two buzzards.

  4. B Feb. 11 at 6:46 pm

    @Bob: how do you know she didn’t plant the glass there in a money grab? I have seen so many stupid lawsuits filed against McD’s, beginning with the moron who spilled the hot coffee in her lap, I don’t know what to believe.

  5. Joe Feb. 11 at 7:05 pm

    @B How do you know she did? Yep, she deliberately placed a piece of glass from a shattered coffee pot into a burger and then bit into it causing severe oral damage.

  6. billyd Feb. 11 at 7:05 pm

    This pig, and her bottom-feeding ambulance-chaser, will get nothing. This is yet another example of why we need to import the British rules – loser pays!

  7. DonD Feb. 11 at 7:11 pm

    This is crazy! Why are you guys giving this woman a hard time. If I bit into a sandwich and had a piece of glass slice into the roof of my mouth, bet your butt I am suing.

  8. Bob Huber Feb. 11 at 7:21 pm

    @B: I don’t know what to believe either. That’s why filing a lawsuit is the right course of action. Let a court/jury determine whether she is lying, not some dolt from the comment section of the Tribune.

  9. David Feb. 11 at 7:30 pm

    August 2010? What in the hell took so long to file? Was she planning her lawsiut? Hell I would’ve filed a long time ago and made sure the news channels hear about this. Sounds too fishy to me.

  10. American Mayor Feb. 11 at 8:23 pm

    I don’t know a single Eastern European, Ukrainian, Russian, etc. person who makes an honest living and who wouldn’t jump on the first chance make a quick buck off of someone else’s misfortune. Maybe you know one?….One.

  11. ceedee Feb. 11 at 8:34 pm

    Remember the woman who put an amputated finger in a wendys chili.Or the needles in the pepsi cans. can you say CON ARTIST

  12. Say What Feb. 11 at 8:36 pm

    Can’t make money from the elderly in the cold weather.Let’s try mickey dees. More gypsy B.S.

  13. Con Man Feb. 11 at 8:54 pm

    It is fair to ask for $50k on that kind of injury, her lawyer takes half of it. But how do they investigate the incident? If it was the coffee pot at McD, then it had to be Mccoffee with some special beans as McD might claim. Eventually, it’ll be settled for $30k

  14. Kons23 Feb. 11 at 9:14 pm

    My son was 3 when we went to a restaurant. We heard a glass break in the kitchen and didn’t think much of it until when they brought out our food. My son bit into his food and there was a piece of glass in the food. We were fortunate that he did not bite hard enough and we notice right away there was something in his mouth. He was not cut and we asked for a new plate. As a result, we did not sue the business (just never went back). It has since closed.

    The fact is these things can happen as it happened to my son. Please don’t discount that because someone is suing for damages.

  15. Doug Feb. 11 at 11:13 pm

    Have not ate at Yuck Donald’s since they started putting the meat in the germ trays instead of grilling the burgers. When I was a kid they were the place to go for burgers, fries and shakes. Now they are just awful. Ray Kroc is turning in his grave knowing what he envisioned was turned into crap by some greedy corporate types.

  16. Bob Feb. 12 at 6:55 a.m.

    Doug

    I bet you would have a different comment if you owned McDonald’s stock!
    It’s at a record high with tens of thousands of shareholders.

  17. bob Feb. 12 at 6:56 a.m.

    Ok here we go again it”s not hot coffee it is now glass could she have brought it with her, and can anyone pronounce her name da

  18. Tim Feb. 12 at 6:59 a.m.

    Someone who needs her moment in the press and now wants millions from McDonald’s. How long will it take before this fraud is exposed?

  19. alaina Feb. 12 at 7:24 a.m.

    If a glass coffee pot shattered anywhere near food waiting to be served to customers, the food should have been immediately thrown away as a precaution. It wasn’t. It sounds to me like the McD’s management was negligent here, and the lady will win her lawsuit.

  20. GERRY Feb. 12 at 8:44 a.m.

    FOOD IS WRAPPED BEHIND THE WALL. COFFEE PATS ARE IN FRONT OF THE WALL. IF THE POT BROKE, HOW DID IT GET INSIDE THE WRAPPER?

  21. Getta Grip Feb. 12 at 8:54 a.m.

    Sometimes a full-tilt-boogie lawsuit is warranted; this is one of those times. The woman suffered, has to live with, severe and permanent damage to the inside of her mouth. Hope she gets a “Super-Sized” settlement from the “Golden Arches” Corporation.

  22. Sonyboy77 Feb. 12 at 9:10 a.m.

    Come on guys, the glass pot expoldes in McDonald’s and the lady just happens to have a shard of glass that is consistent with the McDonalds coffee pot (you can believe that McDonald’s and their lawyers have tested this)in her purse/pocket. If this was another scenario, I might not go for it. I kinda think that this might be legit. S#!* happens.

  23. Scott Feb. 12 at 9:24 a.m.

    How come nobody else did not report glass in there food? How could glass just make it into 1 sandwich? Aren’t the coffee pots in the front end of the store and somehow the pot exploded and got into to wrapped McChicken? Don’t know about anybody else but if I bite into anything and the chewing is different I spit it out right then and there. Too many questions that need to be answered.

  24. danseagull Feb. 12 at 11:41 a.m.

    $20,000 SETTLEMENT…….O.K. , WHO’S NEXT.

  25. HankHerpe Feb. 12 at 8:47 pm

    I was in the store when the coffee pot shattered. Immediately felt something lodge in my left eyeball. My sister was quite envious and didn’t hesitate to point out the glass complimented my nose ring

  26. tops Feb. 13 at 2:43 pm

    If I ever find anything dead or inanimate in my food that didn’t belong there, I would just throw it out and never say anything. When someone brings something like this public, the finger-pointing begins and the complainer is accused of “planting” the dead mouse, dead roaches, dead flies, frogs, horses, glass, metal, rocks, etc. into the food. And then you are in the newspaper and on the 10 pm news. NO THANKS!

  27. At Home Feb. 13 at 3:17 pm

    sometimes when you break a glass at home you keep finding little pieces of it all over the place months later.

  28. Kassandra60659 Feb. 14 at 6:55 a.m.

    Another silly lawsuit. Ive been at Mcdonalds before and found some eventful materials in my Burger once, no it didnt cut me but still.. People are so quick to jump the gun and sue. Seriously… Soon we will have to sign a waver before we walk into ANY sortve business because people are obnoxious and money hungry. Time to chill America. Or here is one other idea, go ahead and sue but if you are found to be a liar liar pants on fire you owe THEM money, the amount you tried to seek for being a hungry hungry hippo.

  29. chitowntony Feb. 14 at 7:00 a.m.

    McD need to use security camers to prove this is BS,

    Coffee is prepared behind service counter, but nowhere near where sanswiches are made. Further there is a waal between food prep and coffee areas.
    Check glass and it willbe proven glass was brought in from outside.

    McD needs to sue person and attorney, for defimation of carachter, and have them Banned from Mcd for life.

  30. chitowntony Feb. 14 at 7:04 a.m.

    regarding the 500.00 per hourcall girl from Vegas WHO CARES AND THIS GOES ON INALMOST EVERY HOTEL ACCROSS THE COUNTRY.
    most police depts know and do nothing a do nothing as long as is no trouble.

    Maybe her unemployment ran out and had to turn to tricks to support herself
    and family

  31. John M Feb. 16 at 1:22 pm

    What kind on name is that…. SCAM ARTIST ,, How many more does this ILLEGAL have… CALL ICE on this one !!

  32. Lubomir Feb. 17 at 12:47 pm

    For the moron regarding an Eastern European honest hard working people. You dumb moron. I haven’t met in 15 years living here a smart american. Even Mr Kroc was Czechoslovakian you dumb *** hole.

  33. tony Feb. 17 at 6:31 pm

    Gerry, thank you.

    This smell like a scam. Hope McD counter sues her and her att’y for defimation and slander

  34. Jason Feb. 21 at 4:20 pm

    It’s amazing how quick people are to defend McDonalds and jump to conclusions to assume this woman is a fraud. She isn’t alleging some sort of mental breakdown from the event. It seems she had actual legitimate injuries. Further, the delay in filing the lawsuit was likely due to her lawyer trying to settle the claim without having to file the lawsuit and without the press finding out, which is completely normal.

    And to the person commenting about the hot coffee McDonalds claim – it was a legitimate lawsuit. She sustained severe burns on her groin requiring multiple skin graft surgeries. The burns were so severe because they served their coffee too hot. The award was so high because McDonalds knew they served the coffee too hot but decided it was less expensive to pay damages in possible lawsuits than to lower the temperature of their coffee across the world. Apparently, they were wrong.