Throwing ‘Hot and Spicy’ Pasta Can Cost You, Former Lawyer Learns From Lawsuit

Whether it was the ‘hot and spicy’ fra diavolo sauce (see recipe here), or the subsequent fall and resulting injuries, a former New Jersey lawyer just lost $103,000 for drunkenly throwing a bowl of pasta at a man he was arguing with, missing, and hitting a woman passing by in the head.

On March 29, 2015, at approximately 7:30 p.m., the defendant, James Sweeney was intoxicated and upon information and belief was arguing with another patron of the restaurant when he picked up a bowl or dish full of pasta with fra diavolo sauce and threw it toward the man the defendant was arguing with.

At or about this same time and place the plaintiff, Constance Koulmey, was walking towards the exit door of the restaurant, when suddenly and without warning the pasta with hot and spicy fra diavolo sauce which was thrown at the man referenced in paragraph 4 herein struck her about the head and face causing the spicy sauce to drip down her head, onto her face and in her eyes and further causing her to fall striking her head. The Defendant was negligent and careless in one or more of the following ways:

a. Throwing steaming hot pasta and sauce at the man next to him while the plaintiff was directly behind the man;
b. Throwing steaming hot pasta and sauce without providing a warning to those around the man; and
c. Failing to conduct himself as a reasonable person under the circumstances; and
d. Failing to leave the restaurant, move his seat, or take any action to remove himself from the situation before throwing the steaming hot pasta and sauce.

As noted above, the plaintiff did apparently fall and, as a result, allegedly suffered injuries resulting in a “concussion, eye pain, burning and blurry vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea, neck pain, daily severe back pain with radiating pain, emotional upset, elevated blood pressure,” as well as other injuries, according to the lawsuit.

Although the woman was originally seeking $15,000, a jury awarded her $103,000, according to law.com.