Burger King Released From Lawsuit Over Needles In Sandwich


Clark Bartholomew is a retired Army sergeant who just settled out of court with Burger King. Bartholomew was eating a Triple Stacker at the restaurant chain in Honolulu, when he claims that he took a bite and a needle pierced his tongue. The other needle was reportedly lodged in his intestine.

The lawsuit says that the needles inside the Burger King sandwich did injure Bartholomew, and left him requiring hospital treatment. Attorney for the Army sergeant, Paul Saccoccio told several media outlets that they were releasing Burger King Corp, and CTI Foods Holding Co. LLC, which is the meat supplier for the restaurant chain, from the lawsuit.

The Desert News reports that a trial is still scheduled against the U.S. Army and Air Force Exchange, which operates the Burger King franchise on the Hawaii Army base where the burger was purchased in 2010. A non-jury trial is scheduled for March 2.

Government attorneys have said previously that the case should be dropped because Bartholomew was injured during the course of military service.

A judge refused to throw the case out.

Burger King attempted to settle several times previously, but according to the Daily Mail it was unsuccessful because Bartholomew failed to attend one of the conferences. The judge ordered him to play $8500 in sanctions.

Sergeant Bartholomew and his family now reside in Chantilly, Virginia and will have to return to Honolulu for the trial in federal court.

A witness list filed by his attorneys indicates doctors and other medical professionals who treated Bartholomew are expected to testify.

Bartholomew is expected to testify about what he suffered, including the nine days it took for one needle to move through his body after he ate the Burger King sandwich.

This is not the first time that the chain has had allegations of foreign objects in its food. It was reported by the Inquisitr that a Burger King restaurant in Northern Arizona had a similar incident last year. A customer had gone into the restaurant to order her salad for lunch and got quite the surprise when she found a razor blade in her bed of lettuce. Burger King swiftly took action and fired the employee who was working that station, and then stated that razor blades are not allowed near the food prep area.

These two incidents may seem isolated, but they are both incredibly dangerous and could have gotten their customers seriously hurt or even killed. Do you think that Burger King is doing enough to ensure the safety of it’s customers, or should we all feel like we need to check our food every time we eat at one of their restaurants?

[Photo courtesy of Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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