Severed Digit Deja Vu

JUNE 27--Claiming that she found a human fingertip tucked into an Applebee's salad purchased last June, a Louisiana woman has sued the restaurant chain, claiming she was traumatized by her discovery of the unexpected ingredient. In a District Court lawsuit, a copy of which you'll find below, May Deal Chambers Johnson claims she found the displaced digit in takeout from an Applebee's on Clearview Parkway in Jefferson, Louisiana. The discovery sickened her, said Johnson, who is seeking unspecified damages for pain and suffering, lost wages, and subsequent medical treatment. An Applebee's source told TSG that a male employee sliced off a chunk of his finger while cutting chicken and that the severed portion could not be immediately retrieved because it landed in a 'to go order.' The worker was subsequently dismissed for failing to follow food safety procedures. The lawsuit does not describe what Johnson did with the 'foreign object.' Johnson's severed finger complaint, filed on June 24, comes two months after the arrest of a Las Vegas woman on charges she concocted a story about finding a fingertip in a bowl of Wendy's chili served to her earlier this year at a California franchise. (3 pages)