(CN) - Applebee's International is not liable to a Louisiana patron who says she found the tip of a human finger in her salad, a state appeals court ruled.
May Deal Chambers-Johnson sued the parent company, franchisee Southern River Restaurants Inc. and managers Jeremy Walcott and Raymond Mundy for physical and psychological injuries from alleged 2005 incident.
Applebee's claimed that it had no employees at the restaurant, which was owned and operated by Southern River. Chambers-Johnson argued that Applebee's had trained the store's managers on how to prepare sanitary food.
The trial court ruled that Applebee's was not liable, and the Gretna-based Fifth Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeals agreed in a decision written by Judge Marc Johnson.
"Despite claiming Applebee's Inc.'s standards regarding food preparation were deficient, Ms. Johnson offered no evidence regarding the substance of these standards," Judge Johnson wrote.
"Accordingly, we find Ms. Johnson failed to produce factual support sufficient to show that she would be able to satisfy her evidentiary burden of proof at trial. Thus, we find there is no genuine issue of material fact, and summary judgment was properly rendered in favor of Applebee's Inc.," he added.
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