"lawsuits" news and stories

Making good on a threat it issued this summer, a public advocacy group has filed a class-action lawsuit against McDonald's to stop the burger giant from putting toys in Happy Meals.

Last June, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) warned McDonald's that unless the company immediately stopped using Happy Meal toys to market to kids, it was going to take McDonald's to court. No surprise: McDonald's didn't exactly "cease and desist," as any parent who's recently stumbled over a cheap plastic Transformer on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night will tell you.

CSPI contends that by luring kids in with the promise of toys, McDonald's is encouraging them "to develop a preference for nutritionally poor Happy Meals," according to its press release. While McDonald's counters that parents can choose healthier Happy Meals for their kids, such as those that include low-fat milk and apple slices, CSPI charges that fries and sodas are essentially the default option at the majority of McDonald's franchises, and no such Happy Meal is healthy for a four- to eight-year-old.

Nothing quite spoils a $35 plate of lobster risotto like the specter of revolution.

A kind of proletariat fever appears to be sweeping through some of New York's finest restaurants. Forget picket lines, though. These workers are dragging their celebrity-chef bosses to court.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, famed Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto is the latest in a string of prominent restaurateurs to face lawsuits alleging violations of state and federal labor laws. A former employee of his New York City restaurant, Morimoto, is filing suit for depriving him of tip money.

It's that time of year, the time to look back on the stories that made 2005 great. Our countdown began with God and TV, then touched on the weird and the wonderful. Finally, that most American of all themes: the lawsuit.

There are more than a few people out there who continue to give lawyers a bad name. Some of them are the lawyers who take on what many people deem to be frivolous lawsuits. Sometimes it is the lawyers who take it upon themselves to speak up for people and protest what they perceive is a legal violation or some sort. These may not be all the legal battles caused by food this year, but they certainly were noteworthy ones, whether they deserved to be or not.

1. Silver dragées. This lawsuit isn’t new to 2005, but it is ongoing nevertheless. A California lawyer had essentially managed, much to the chagrin of bakers in the state, to block the sale of little, silver cake decorating balls in the state in a suit against candy makers and bakers. He cites health risks despite the fact that there has never been a documented case of poisoning from silver dragée consumption.

2. Bottled Fly Trauma. In , a hairstylist and his wife were awarded more than $300,000 after finding a fly in a bottle of water. Neither the man nor his wife consumed any water and, in fact, the bottle was unopened. The couple mentioned that they were “plagued by nightmares [and lost] of their sense of humour” as a result of the incident.