Thomas Mignone v. Arunee House, Min Fhu Inc.
Published: Dec. 7, 2004 | Result Date: Jul. 23, 2004 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: EC034862 Bench Decision – $0
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Glendale
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
David A. Belofsky
(Belofsky Law Group PC)
Experts
Plaintiff
Edwin Ashley
(medical)
A. Kevin Aminian
(medical)
Facts
Thomas Mignone, 32, ordered food from Arunee House on Aug. 9, 2002. When the delivery person arrived with the food, Mignone opened the bag to inspect its contents. He first lifted out a Styrofoam-lidded container of heated sauce and held it in his right hand as he continued to inspect the contents. As he held the container, a finger of his right hand broke through the bottom of the container, spilling the heated sauce down his ring and pinky fingers and onto the webbing between those fingers. He put his hand in cold water, but when the pain persisted, he sought treatment at St. Joseph Medical Emergency Department. Mignone sued Min Fhu Inc. for product liability.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff demanded $50,000 reduced to $5,000 at trial. The defendant offered $500 reduced to $0 at trial.
Specials in Evidence
$2,420 $10,000 (for surgery to correct the right ulnar nerve neuropathy)
Injuries
The Emergency Department assessed his injury as a first degree burn, right ring finger. Mignone went to Sherman Oaks Hospital on Aug. 17, 2001 complaining of persistent pain in his right hand. He was discharged without a doctor's report having been made. Eight or nine months later, Dr. Edwin Ashley recommended that Mignone undergo decompression of the ulnar nerve at Guyon's Canal, but Mignone decided against surgery. Dr. Ashley relied partly on the electro-diagnostic report of Dr. A. Kevin Aminian, who conducted a nerve conduction study which suggested probable right ulnar nerve neuropathy. Neither doctor wrote anything connecting the neuropathy to the spilled sauce.
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