vpFREE2 Forums

re bad food at casinos

#1

First - re the Pizza - since it had an obvious medicinal taste you should
have gone immediately to the manager and had him taste the pizza - this is
something they could instantly test.

Once you've eaten something that you suspect has caused a problem - you
should contact the hotel and report it. Unfortunately without other proof, it
would be difficult to sue to request some sort of compensation later, but
perhaps your report and those of others who were sick could lead to a check of the
kitchen at least. Unless other people reported a widespread outbreak - such
as the norovirus case at the California and other Vegas casinos in the past
- it is difficult to sue.

Even finding a "foreign object" in your food may not be enough for a
lawsuit. My husband bit into a roll at Paris's Steakhouse - and broke a tooth. In
this case it was a walnut roll, something he didn't even realize at the time.
We immediately called a water, who called the manager, and they looked at
the offending object -- apparently a piece of walnut shell. My husband filled
out a report, and later contacted the liability office for Paris. He
submitted copies of xrays of tooth, bills for dental service (he had to have a cap
put on). But all to no avail. Eventaully the liability office said that the
walnuts came from another source, and since walnuts might be expected to
come with shells, which might inadvertently end up in chopped walnuts, we had no
grounds. So we were out of luck. Obviously we might have tried suing in
small claims court, since normally one wouldn't expect walnuts to be in a
dinner roll, let alone a piece of walnut shell. But it seemed like we might have
to sue the producer of the chopped walnuts, not Paris. And would we sue
Paris or the parent company? It was all too confusing - so we didn't sue. Maybe
we could have, but we didn't.

Had the object been something truly foreign, such as a piece of glass - it
probably would have made for a better case - and the hotel probably would have
offered to settle.

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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#2

Once you've eaten something that you suspect has caused a problem - you
should contact the hotel and report it.

Agreed. Not too long ago I had a horrific bout of food poisoning which resulted in my
being hopitalized for a night and very weak and sick for many more days. While everyone
who saw me agreed that it was food poisoning, and likely a specific dish of seafood salad
(having both seafood and mayo made it the number one culprit), I did not report the issue
to the casino where I ate it.

I don't really regret that decision, since it didn't raise any red flags at the time (tasted/
smelled fine) and it would be hard to prove any culpability since I could not go back until
the next day, when the offending dish would have long been thrown out. If I had noticed
anything at the time, though, I certainly would have mentioned it to the manager.

Even finding a "foreign object" in your food may not be enough for a
lawsuit. My husband bit into a roll at Paris's Steakhouse - and broke a tooth.

Sounds like a bad experience. My S.O. had a very similar experience at the Palms buffet,
only they forked over the full $800+ for dental visits. It was many, many months later due
to all of the red tape involved, but at least he was compensated.

Bettie Paige
www.VPinsider.com

ยทยทยท

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, misscraps@... wrote:

#3

>Unfortunately without other proof, it

would be difficult to sue to request some sort of compensation later

Actually, a successful suit in small claims court will require no "proof"
other than your credible story. It helps if you have eaten nothing else
that day, as does a trip to your M.D. (or EMT if your hotel-bound).
Restaurants and food service outlets carry insurance that covers
food-poisoning incidents. The establishment will normally refer you to
their adjuster and decide whether to settle.

Hotels and resorts are a little tougher, for two reasons. Most states have
statutes that limit their liability considerably, out of fear that a run of
diarrhea could bankrupt their tourist industry. This sometimes leads to
outrageous abuse (Google "Reno Hilton outbreak").

The other is that major hotels and resorts have a "secret" policy to deny
all claims. That's right, they'll have you"write a report", turn it over to
"risk management", and then decide they can "find no evidence" that you were
wronged. 100% of the time, no matter what your report says. You'll have to
get a lawyer to get any action.

I agree it's critical to report food-borne illness, and not just to
management. They may act on it, they may not.
Its best to report to the health department. In Las Vegas, that department
is quite vigilant, but they can't do their job without the public's help.

TC

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