Great, Now We Have To Be Scared Of Lasagna

Many times at restaurants our gracious server will encourage us to mind the plate, because it's hot. But we're usually so famished we dive in anyway. So maybe that's why we can relate to the plight of a diner in Orland Park, Illinois, who was attacked by marinara sauce as she cut into her plate of lasagna. The Chicago Tribune reports today that "According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, Theresa Thomas suffered severe injuries and has been unable to work since she was squirted with the red sauce in December at Osteria Ottimo Ristorante." Saying that her burns are so severe she is unable to work, Thomas is suing for over $50,000 and legal fees.

The lawsuit, written by Thomas' attorney, David S. Petrich, is highly descriptive. Upon receiving her pate of pasta at the sit-down restaurant, Thomas

"placed her left hand in her lap, picked up a fork with her right hand and touched the tower of layered pasta, meat, cheese and marinara sauce with the fork."... That is when the "acts of tortious conduct" began, the lawsuit alleges. "Upon contact with the fork, and without warning, piping hot marinara sauce shot from the lasagna and onto Theresa's left hand, scalding the skin and causing a large burn."

To be clear, Thomas maintains that the staff neglected to warn her about the apparently extremely hot food. The lawsuit says that the restaurant was also "careless and negligent in preparing unreasonably hot and/or dangerous food, serving such food, failing to cool the food, failing to train staff members to serve cooler food, and failing to warn Thomas and others that their food was hot or dangerous."

We have to say, we have cut into a plate of lasagna a thousand times with no thought except for how quickly we could get that pasta into our pathetic, gaping maws. No longer! We'll be looking at you with a careful side-eye from now on, lasagna.