Chopt prides itself on making healthy salads that aren’t boring. While finding a finger in your salad definitely isn’t dull, it sure isn’t appetizing, either. Apparently, on April 7, 2023, a Chopt manager was chopping arugula when they cut off the tip of their finger. The manager was promptly taken to the hospital, but back at the restaurant, employees continued to serve the contaminated salad ingredients to customers. This is likely how the severed finger allegedly ended up in a customer’s salad bowl. The lawsuit filed by Connecticut resident Allison Cozzi details that she bit down on the finger before realizing what her meal contained.
While neither the restaurant nor Cozzi has responded to requests for comments, NBC News shared an email from her lawyer stating that “the failure to supervise the preparation and service of food in a manner that protects the public is a blatant deviation from accepted safe practice and deserves significant compensation.” Cozzi is reportedly suing Chopt for emotional and physical distress.
Of course, this isn’t the first, or even the wildest, fast-food lawsuit we’ve ever seen. Those who remember the Wendy’s chili finger of 2005 are likely experiencing some distressed flashbacks. While that incident was later exposed as a scam plotted by the customer, it made people think twice about eating from a fast food joint where fingers could be found.