Jury Rejects Claim Soup Drove Man Nuts

A jury rejected a man’s claims he should be compensated for a sleep disorder suffered since was served the wrong soup at a restaurant.

Donald Johnson, 64, sought $55,356 from the Shoney’s restaurant chain. The jury instead awarded him $407 for medical bills.

Johnson, of Lake Worth, said he had to have emergency medical treatment in 1995 after eating clam chowder when he had ordered potato soup. He said an allergic reaction left him with psychological and sleep disorders.

He rejected a $1,000 settlement in 1999.

“I thought it was a silly case,” Shoney’s attorney, Charles Rice, said Tuesday.

Rice argued during the trial that Johnson’s anxiety might stem from other experiences, including a prison term for sexual activity with a child under 12 and his public listing as a sexual predator.

The six-person jury decided after the four-day trial that Johnson was 90 percent negligent, reducing Shoney’s share of the medical bills to $407.

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Information from: The Palm Beach Post, http://www.pbpost.com