A comedy cliche is the diner who tries to get out of his or her check by claiming to find a cockroach in the food. (E.g., “Victor/Victoria.”) Nowadays, such scams go beyond seeking a free meal, but include hopes for a lawsuit — the Pepsi syringe hoax being a well-publicized instance, the trampled shopper (Dec. 4) a more recent case.
We’re not saying Leila Sultan, the woman who settled a lawsuit against an Irvine seafood restaurant over an allegation of finding a condom in her chowder (AP, Jan. 12) is such a scamster. But, as the Smoking Gun points out, it “was the second time she was forced to sue over an injurious incident at a chain restaurant” — she recovered $2000 from Taco Bell in a settled 1996 lawsuit over spilled coffee. (via Obscure Store)
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