WASHINGTON — Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has sued a US Capitol cafeteria for $150,000 in damages after he bit into a sandwich wrap that contained an olive pit, causing him “permanent dental and oral injuries,” The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported Wednesday.
According to the lawsuit filed Jan 3. in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, the vegan congressman purchased the sandwich “on or about April 17, 2008.”
After biting into the sandwich, purchased at the Longworth House Office Building’s cafeteria, he suffered “permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures,” according to the lawsuit.
“Said sandwich wrap was unwholesome and unfit for human consumption in that it was presented to contain pitted olives, yet unknown to plaintiff, contained an unpitted olive or olives which plaintiff did not reasonably expect to be in the food prepared for him, and could not visually detect prior to consumption,” the suit said, according to The Plain-Dealer.
Kucinich, an eight-term congressman from Ohio who has twice run for president and is known for being one of the most liberal, anti-war members of Congress, sued the cafeteria for future dental expenses as well as compensation for “pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment.”