Denny’s maggot milk accuser made to settle case for $12,500

[matcom]

<snip>

NORFOLK — A man who claimed he found maggots in a glass of milk at a local Denny’s restaurant was forced to accept a $12,500 settlement on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Walter D. Kelley Jr. ruled that Russell L. Long had given his attorney the authority to negotiate a settlement and at one point appeared to accept the $12,500 offer.

Long, however, argued in court that he never signed off on the amount. He asked the judge to negate the settlement and send the case to trial.

The case took an unusual twist when Long’s former attorney, Cheryl D. Footman-Banks, sat next to the attorney for Denny’s at Thursday’s hearing and testified against Long. Kelley had removed Footman-Banks from the case because of the dispute over her authority to negotiate the matter.

“I never at any time game Ms. Footman-Banks authority, written or oral, to settle my case,” Long told the court.

Footman-Banks testified that Long made a verbal agreement in April accepting the $12,500 settlement. Her paralegal testified as well, confirming the agreement.

Long, however, said he first refused a $10,000 offer and then the $12,500 offer. Court records say he was holding out for between $25,000 and $40,000.

Long said afterward that he is considering appealing but had no further comment. The settlement means there will be no trial to determine if Long’s story was true. Denny’s denied the allegation but said if the milk did have maggots they must have come from the restaurant’s supplier.

On the morning of Aug. 1, 2002, Long went to the Denny’s restaurant on Newtown Road in Virginia Beach. He ordered breakfast and a glass of milk. The milk, Long alleges in the suit, contained maggots. The court papers never say whether Long consumed the organisms, but Footman-Banks said in court Thursday that Long had drank the maggots.

Long sued Denny’s for $1 million, claiming physical injuries and mental anguish.

“Don’t walk away from here thinking you got a raw deal,” Kelley told Long after ruling against him.

Kelley added that had Long taken the case to trial and won, “that’s about where you would have ended up anyway.”

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=90208&ran=225990

[greekspeak]

1. You should be happy with the extra protein!

:puke:

[hyphenate]

2. I would have psotively

freaked out if I found something like that in my milk. But then, I had my own horrendous experience with them, even though it was about 10 or 11 years ago, when I went to breakfast there, I ordered a vegetable omelet, and found a half eaten sausage in it. I almost threw up, but didn't think to tell anyone there about it, but I never went back there until a very long time afterward when it changed hands.