Corin v. S. S. Kresge Co.

• Decision Date: 08 April 1932
• Docket Number: No. 430.,430.
• Parties: CORIN v. S. S. KRESGE CO.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

159 A. 799

CORIN

v. S. S. KRESGE CO.

No. 430.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

April 8, 1932.

Appeal from First District Court of Paterson.

Action by Henrietta M. Corin against the S. S. Kresge Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

Argued January term, 1932, before CAMPBELL, LLOYD, and BODINE, JJ.

Edwards, Smith & Dawson, of Jersey City, for appellant.

Harry S. La Poff, of Paterson (I. Victor Klenert, of Paterson, of counsel), for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff sued to recover damages for personal injuries suffered by reason of the defendant's negligence in serving to her coleslaw in which there was a piece of broken glass. The defendant maintained a restaurant in connection with its store. The plaintiff entered this restaurant, took a seat at the counter, and ordered a platter of fish and coleslaw. She testified:

"While I was eating the coleslaw, I felt something funny in my throat and grit in my teeth. I immediately took the stuff out; that is, I had been eating some of it before I noticed. I found a piece of glass in the stuff that was in my mouth, and also had just a little bit of blood. After I spit out all this food.

"Q. In eating, before you noticed what happened, some of the food got in your stomach? A. Yes, because it scratched my throat, and my mouth was very gritty between the teeth. That, of course, caused me to start spitting out the food. In spitting out, I found a piece of glass. * * *

"Q. After you had eaten the food substance, what did you do? A. I immediately went to Dr. Polizzotti. * * *

"Q. Tell us about this piece of glass you took out of your mouth. What did it look like—its size, how large was it? A. I should judge it was the size of my finger nail. * * * It was like a piece of glass chipped out of something."

A duty is imposed upon a restaurant keeper in this state to use reasonable care to see that food served in his restaurant shall be free from injurious substances and fit for human consumption. Nisky v. Childs Co., 103 N. J. Law, 464, 135 A. 805, 50 A. L. R. 227. The presence of portions of a broken electric light bulb imbedded in a loaf of bread, the bulb being of a sort similar to those used in defendant's bakery, raises an inference of negligence upon the part of those operating the bakery. De Groat v. Ward Baking Co., 102 N. J. Law, 188, 130 A. 540. The presence of a portion of a suspender strap contaminating a bottle of Coca-Cola raises an inference of negligence upon the part of those bottling the beverage. Rudolph v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 132 A. 508, 4 N. J. Misc. R. 318. The presence of an iron bolt in a mince pie raises an inference of negligence upon the part of those preparing the mince meat. Sheehan v. Menkes, 152 A. 326, 8 N. J. Misc. R. 867.

In Friend v. Childs Dining Hall Co., 231 Mass. 65, 120 N. E. 407, 5 A. L. R. 1100, the court said: "The plaintiff introduced evidence tending to show that the defendant kept a restaurant in Boston, which she entered and ordered of a waitress of the defendant from its menu, 'New York baked beans and corned beef.' This food was served to her and she sat at a table to eat it. She further testified: 'I started to eat the food and there were two or three dark pieces which I thought were hard beans, that is baked more than the others, and I put two in my mouth and bit down hard on them and * * * I was hurt. * * * I took those things out of my mouth and found they were stones.' * * * The question...