Flying Shrimp Blamed for Diner's Death





November 24, 2004
When the Benihana chef playfully flipped a piece of grilled shrimp towards a diner, he could not possibly have imagined the eventualy outcome -- a wrongful death lawsuit.

According to the suit in Nassau County, NY, Supreme Court, diner Jerry Colaitis of Old Brookville, NY, ducked to avoid the flying shrimp, causing a neck injury which required surgery. Complications from the first surgery required a second procedure and less than a year after the shrimp's brief flight, Colaitis was dead.

The attorney for Colaitis' estate, Andre Ferenzo, argues that Colaitis would be alive today had it not been for the chef's playful gambit. Ferenzo is seeking $10 million in damages.

Benihana has denied all of the allegations -- and has even questioned whether Colaitis was trying to avoid the flying shrimp, suggesting that he may have been trying to catch it in his mouth.

In arguing for summary dismissal, Benihana attorneys contended that the cause of Colaitis' death has not been established. Following the second round of neck surgery, performed at New York University Medical Center, he developed a high fever and died.

The judge denied motions to dismiss the case and said the defense objections would be best handled at trial.

AND BELOW IS AN "A.P.-esque" TREATMENT OF THE STORY, NOT BY A.P. BUT BY A FRIEND NAMED ED FENK WHO IS A BANKING ATTORNEY IN NYC...

The follow up to that story was in the news lately, as reported in the
NY Daily News. The cops eventually fingered the flying shrimp as the
primary suspect in the case. The DA claimed that but for the shrimp
launched at lunch the man would still be alive. They grilled the shrimp
for hours but he had been in hot water before and the DA couldn't crack
his shell. The shrimp claimed it was the duck that was the proximate
cause of the quack up leading to the man's death. Eventually, however,
the DA indicted the Chief Sturgeon of the hospital, charging him with
floundering the operation.

It all sounds fishy! Should there really be a cause of action for everything that happens in life?

I can say that I have eaten at Benihana's on many occasions over the past 10 years and have never ever had a shrimp or any other morsol tossed toward my head. I have seen chefs do the throw of shrimp parts to their shirt pocket and the top of their hat, but never to their mouth.

John,

Priceless. ROFLMAOPMP

And the defendant did then and there use a deadly weapon, to-wit, a Farfantepenaeus aztecus, that in its use and intended use can cause serious bodily injury and death.