Broken Tooth in a Restaurant...

by Jim
(Newport Beach, CA)

I was eating a salad and my tooth broke when I bit down on a crouton. The crouton was much harder than a normal crouton should be. Is the restaurant liable for my injury? Is there anything I can do?

Disclaimer: Information provided in your response is not formal legal advice, it is generic legal information and is based on the very limited information given in your question. You should always get a formal case evaluation from a licensed attorney.

ANSWER for "Broken Tooth in a Restaurant...":

Jim (Newport Beach, CA):

The restaurant should be liable for your injuries. They should compensate you for the repair to your tooth. The compensation should include your dental bills, any of your reasonable out of pocket expenses, any wages you lost while going to the dentist.

To get to the point where the restaurant actually compensates you it will be necessary for them to accept liability for what happened. Hopefully you notified management when your tooth broke. It would be even better if they documented the incident.

Go to management and verify the incident. Once verified present them with the estimate for the dental repairs. Explain to them you will also need them to pay your additional reasonable expenses. Don’t threaten them with legal action yet. Do your best to calmly explain the circumstances. Hopefully they will agree to reimburse you. If not, you may want to consider legal action.

Since laws change frequently and across jurisdictions you should get a personalized case evaluation from an attorney licensed in your state (if you haven't already). Find an experienced local attorney to give you a FREE personalized case review here.

Best of luck,

Law Guy

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