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Breakfast suit is toast
There’s no such thing as a free lunch – or breakfast, it seems. A personal injury lawyer’s suit against a health club that stopped serving a free breakfast has been thrown out.
Digital
There’s no such thing as a free lunch – or breakfast, it seems.
Richard Katz’s case against the exclusive Setai Club & Spa, Wall Street, was dismissed last week by a Manhattan Supreme Court, with the New York lawyer ordered to pay the club’s lawyers $440 in fees, reported the New York Daily News.
Folklaw can’t say it was surprised by the judge’s decision.
Katz paid $US5,000 a year in dues for benefits like “full complimentary breakfast”, according to a suit filed in November 2011.
But when the club cut off his supply of cereal and yoghurt Katz sued for more than $US500,000 in damages for his dues and for the club’s alleged fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, among other actions.
The breakfast crisis began in August 2011 when the restaurant was renovated and reopened with a cold buffet. Then yoghurt and cereal dropped off the menu, further infuriating Katz.
So he wrote an email demanding: “WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON? ... How would you like to explain that there has been no yogurt for two weeks and now no cereal. When does the coffee run out?” the New York Daily News revealed.
When the club manager, Amanda Wells, wrote back informing Katz that his membership had been cancelled, he claimed she libelled him by sharing her email with the operations director. The email in question included the line: “You have blatantly harassed me in a threatening manner for the duration of this year”.
What Folklaw thinks is strange is not that a lawyer became furious over a club failing to dish up a breakfast to his liking, but that someone who pays a $5,000-a-year membership fee won’t spend a few bucks on his own on yoghurt and cereal.
If you’re going to throw a food fit, Folklaw reckons you should aim high. Pancakes, waffles, omelettes and French toast – now that’s a breakfast worth fighting for.
