Wendy’s – Overlawyered

Finger-in-the-chili lady out of jail

Ted Frank — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:13:33 +0000

Speaking of national media hoaxes, today’s San Jose Mercury News profiles the post-incarceration life of Anna Ayala. The digital pioneer is divorced from co-conspirator Jaime Plascencia, who is still in prison. Ayala’s greatest trauma from her four years in prison (out of her nine-year sentence) seems to be that everyone called her the Finger Lady. She’s permanently banned from Wendy’s, so she’ll miss out on the Baconator.

Tags: finger in the chili, Wendy's

Finger-in-the-chili lady out of jail is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Latest hot coffee lawsuit data points

Ted Frank — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 06:55:31 +0000

Remember that the reason anti-reformers justify Stella Liebeck’s infamous hot coffee lawsuit against McDonald’s is because McDonald’s was allegedly the only one selling coffee hot enough to burn? The family of a Dallas Cowboys coach has hired an attorney to sue McDonald’s over allegedly tainted food. Here’s how Jeff Carlton of the AP describes him:

Cecil W. Casterline, the Haley’s lawyer, has previously sued Whataburger and Wendy’s on behalf of clients allegedly scalded by coffee.

Earlier: Starbucks; Burger King; Dunkin’ Donuts; Starbucks; Starbucks; an Indiana gas station and coffeemaker manufacturer; and McDonald’s again and again. (Update: also Stony Brook University Hospital cafeteria, and Starbucks again.) All hot coffee burns. That’s why even small children know not to spill it on themselves, and why most courts hold it’s not actionable when one spills hot coffee on oneself.

Tags: hot coffee, McDonald's, Stella Liebeck, Wendy's

Latest hot coffee lawsuit data points is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Illegal immigrants sue Wendy’s”

Walter Olson — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 00:07:23 +0000

“A group of illegal immigrants who worked for Wendy’s International Inc. is suing the restaurant chain because the company fired them after discovering it had missed a deadline for joining a federal program that would have helped them attain legal status.” (Rasha Madkour, AP/Houston Chronicle, Oct. 6).

More: the restaurant company blames a series of “mistakes made by others” that began before it bought the Cafe Express chain. In particular, Houston-based business law firm Boyar & Miller failed to take steps needed to enroll workers in the program. Commenter David Schwartz points out:

It might be worth noting that the employees *paid* to partipicate in the program. Surely if I pay my employer for legal services and I don’t get them, either my employer or their law firm is at fault, no?

Isn’t missing a filing deadline a classic example of attorney malpractice?

Tags: Houston, Wendy's, workplace

“Illegal immigrants sue Wendy’s” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Chili finger duo sentenced

Walter Olson — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 04:07:51 +0000

Fickle finger of fate, cont’d: dissatisfied Wendy’s customer Anna Ayala drew a nine-year sentence while Jaime Plascencia, her boyfriend and the procurer of the severed digit, drew twelve years. “The two pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to file a false insurance claim and attempted grand theft with damages exceeding $2.5 million.” (“Chili Finger Couple Get Stiff Sentences”, AP/NBC San Diego, Jan. 18). Our previous coverage: Apr. 8, Apr. 9, Apr. 13, Apr. 20, Apr. 22, Apr. 27, May 16, Sept. 10.

Tags: finger in the chili, San Diego, Wendy's

Chili finger duo sentenced is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: chili finger couple plead guilty

Walter Olson — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 04:27:35 +0000

Anna Ayala and husband Jaime Placencia, the couple “accused of conspiring to put a human finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili[,] pleaded guilty today in a Santa Clara County courtroom.” (San Francisco Chronicle, Sept. 9). See May 18, May 16, etc.

Tags: finger in the chili, restaurants, Wendy's

Update: chili finger couple plead guilty is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Like a John Steinbeck novel

Walter Olson — Wed, 18 May 2005 17:04:26 +0000

“The Las Vegas man whose severed fingertip ended up in a cup of Wendy’s chili gave his mangled digit to a co-worker to settle a $50 debt — but had no idea it would be used in an alleged scheme to swindle the fast-food chain, the man’s mother said Tuesday.” (Alan Gathright and Meredith May, “Worker gave his finger to settle $50 debt”, San Francisco Chronicle, May 18)(see May 16, etc.).

Tags: finger in the chili, Wendy's

Like a John Steinbeck novel is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Wendy’s case: the digital evidence

Walter Olson — Mon, 16 May 2005 06:06:06 +0000

San Jose police say the finger that Anna Ayala says she found in a bowl of Wendy’s chili (Apr. 27, Apr. 22, etc.) has now been identified; it belonged to a co-worker of her husband, James Plascencia, who lost it in the tailgate of a truck in an on-the-job accident. Authorities believe it then fell into the possession of Mr. Plascencia. (Dan Reed, Linda Goldston and Chuck Carroll, “The jig is up”, San Jose Mercury News, May 14; “Worker: Finger found in chili severed in tailgate”, AP/CNN, May 15).

Tags: finger in the chili, Wendy's

Wendy’s case: the digital evidence is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Live from Wendy’s

Walter Olson — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 23:31:10 +0000

Anne Haight is photoblogging the scene of the finger incident (Apr. 25)(via Instapundit)(see Apr. 22, etc.)

Tags: finger in the chili, Wendy's

Live from Wendy’s is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Breaking news: Finger-pointing III

Ted Frank — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 12:02:26 +0000

Anna Ayala was arrested late last night, and San Jose police will hold a press conference at 1 this afternoon to announce charges–bad timing for Wendy’s, since this means that the exoneration from a month of bad publicity from a finger supposedly found in its chili that has substantially hurt its sales in California and Las Vegas will take place in the Friday evening news cycle. Previous entries: Apr. 9 and Apr. 20.

Tags: finger in the chili, Wendy's

Breaking news: Finger-pointing III is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

You want a finger? I can get you a finger, believe me.

Ted Frank — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 07:05:53 +0000

There are ways, claims Mary Roach in the San Francisco Chronicle, channelling Walter Sobchak. (“Fingering the finger”, Apr. 18 (via Romenesko)). “I would put good money on the digit hailing from someplace other than the hand of a meat or tomato or onion processor who works in a plant that processes ingredients for Wendy’s. People who work in processing plants do not have long, well-groomed fingernails. Long nails are against the rules in these plants.” Scott Herhold of the San Jose Mercury News is reminded of a 1987 hoax involving a finger that wasn’t. (“1987 finger mystery just a lot of tripe”, Apr. 17). Earlier entries: Apr. 9 and link therein.

Tags: finger in the chili, Wendy's

You want a finger? I can get you a finger, believe me. is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system