Prisoner finds finger in meal, files lawsuit

An inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison in California found a human fingertip in his food and is suing the company that made the frozen meal. The company that makes the meals, G.A. Food Services, explained that the 3/4-inch fingertip belonged to one of its employees, who lost the finger while cleaning a machine on the assembly line last July.

At the time of the accident at the Florida plant, a department manager mistakenly thought all flesh had been flushed from the machine, the letter said. When workers couldn't find the fingertip, they assumed it had been washed down the drain.

In the March 29 letter, included in the lawsuit, quality assurance director Frank Curto apologized for the "foreign object that was found in one of our frozen entrees" and "any inconveniences that were incurred as a result of this incident."

The prisoner, Felipe Rocha, who is serving time in an isolation cell for importing drugs (seven years), assault with a firearm (15 years), and assault while in prison (eight years) wants "at least $75,000 in damages" says his lawyer.

The entree at issue was served March 20 and supposed to be a "special vegetarian, soft diet meal," for Rocha, who practices Buddhism in prison and has dental problems, Merin said. "That was what was unusual to him. As he was eating the cornbread, he chomped into something that appeared to be a cashew nut, tried to chew it, then took it out of his mouth."

Link (via DiVERSiONZ)