A fruit company and grocery chain have offered to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who says he was knocked unconscious when a lid exploded off a jar of fruit and hit him in the face.
 
Darryl Alexander of Southfield, Michigan, claims a stubborn lid flew through the air and struck him in the eye after he hit it with the rubber handle of a screwdriver.  Alexander further claims he first placed the jar of Orchard Select mixed fruit under warm water.
 
"It happened so fast. I just had no time to react. ... I staggered, lost consciousness and fell to the floor. I eventually screamed for my wife," Alexander, 56, said when interviewed during a deposition last December.

Del Monte and Kroger made the $150,000 offer to settle after U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan cleared the way for a trial by refusing to throw out much of the lawsuit. The defendants insist there is no credible evidence that the jar was unsafe.  The offer is "not an admission that defendants are liable," said Jack Klamink, attorney for Del Monte and Kroger.

Alexander's lawyer, Mark Miller, said the offer is too low because his client has permanent eye damage.

A trial date has not been set.

—Source:  The Macomb Daily (MI)

A California man sued a Montana Guide Service after he was "slapped by a bear."
 
Virgil Massey of Barstow, Calif., sued the Church Universal and Triumphant and Montana Guide Service in 6th District Court.  Massey claims that while on a 2007 hunting trip on the religious group's land, a guide left him on a ridge top to watch for elk while the guide accompanied a second hunter to a deer he had killed about 400 yards away.  On his way back to Massey, the guide heard a gunshot, then found Massey on the ground and injured.  Massey told him he had been "slapped by a bear."
 
In court documents, Massey alleges the outfitter did not give him proper training on how to deal with bears or provide him with pepper spray or a handgun for protection. Massey is suing for past and future medical expenses as well as other damages.
 
According to news reports, it does not appear the State of Montana requires licensed Montana guides and outfitters to have any special training about bear encounters or how to use firearms for self-defense against bears.
 
—Source:  Examiner.com

Artichokes may be off the menu for some Thanksgiving feasts this year after people learn that a Miami doctor is suing a local restaurant for pain he experienced following consumption of the entire artichoke.
 
Arturo Carvajal filed a lawsuit against national restaurant chain Houston's, essentially claiming the restaurant was responsible for his pain because employees didn't tell him that he was supposed to eat the soft meat located on the inside of the artichoke leaves, not the entire thing. According to the lawsuit, a server suggested the grilled artichoke to Carvajal, who responded he had never seen or even heard of an artichoke, but decided to order it anyway. At no point, the lawsuit states, did the waiter tell Carvajal how to eat the dish. 
 
After eating the entire artichoke, thorny leaves and all, Carvajal experienced severe abdominal pain and had to go to the hospital. Doctors found artichoke leaves lodged in his small bowel and had to perform surgery to remove them.
 
"Arturo Carvajal suffered bodily injury, resulting in pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life..." states the lawsuit.  Carvajal is seeking at least $15,000 in damages.
 
Glenn Viers, attorney for the restaurant chain, told Business Insurance, “It's just kind of a silly notion. …  What's next? Are we going to have to post warnings on our menu they shouldn't eat the bones in our barbecue ribs?” 
 
—Source:  MSNBC.com

A Connecticut man serving a manslaughter sentence for striking and killing a 14-year-old boy is suing the victim's parents, blaming them for their son's death because they allowed him to ride his bike in the street without a helmet.

Driver David Weaving sped by another car at 80 miles per hour, hitting and killing Matthew Kenney as he was riding his bike.  Kenney's parents, Stephen and Joanne, sued Weaving shortly after he was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for manslaughter, accusing him of negligence and seeking more than $15,000 in damages.

Weaving, who has a history of drunk driving convictions, responded months later with a handwritten countersuit accusing the Kenneys of "contributory negligence." He's also seeking more than $15,000 in damages, saying he's endured "great mental and emotional pain and suffering," wrongful conviction and imprisonment, and the loss of his "capacity to carry on in life's activities."
 
In his lawsuit, Weaving wrote that had the Kenneys "complied with the responsibilities of a parent and guardian and the laws of this state and not allowed their son to ride his bicycle without a helmet and to play out in the middle of Rt. 69 ... this incident and Matthew's death would not have happened."

"It drags the pain on," said Joanne Kenney, a stay-at-home mom with two other children, ages 2 and 13. "It's a constant reminder. Enough is enough. Can you just leave us alone and serve your time?"
 
Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Kenneys are paying an undisclosed amount of attorney's fees while Weaving filed his claims for free because he's considered indigent.

The Kenneys say Weaving's license should have been permanently revoked in 1999 under state law because of the five drunken driving arrests on his record since the late 1990s.  They're seeking permission from the state claims commissioner to sue the Department of Motor Vehicles and its commissioner, Robert Ward.  The department has acknowledged it made a mistake in not revoking Weaving's license and said it has taken steps to prevent similar problems.

Joanne Kenney, 42, calls Weaving's claims "unbelievable." "I just think it's crazy that they have the ability to do this behind bars," she said. "I think inmates have too many rights. They're the ones who committed the crimes, not us. And we're the ones who suffer more."

—Source:  The Middleton Press (CT)