HOUSTON — A Houston man is suing Whataburger for nearly $1 million after he says his burger had onions on it.
Turns out he had asked for a no-onions order.
On July 24, 2024, Demery Ardell Wilson had an allergic reaction after eating a burger that had onions on it at Whataburger, court documents say. He alleges that he requested the fast-food chain to take them off before serving him the burger.
On the one hand, I hate onions. So I totally get it. I wish I could sue every time someone sticks one in my food as a disgusting surprise too.
On the other hand, if you have a food allergy, that is different than just requesting “no onion” on your burger. They have to take steps to prevent cross contamination. It is a whole thing, and he should know that if he is really that allergic. He would be having this issue all the time becuase (as I well know and lament as an onion hater) onions are in a ton of foods everywhere you go.
They would only be negligent and liable if he told them that he was allergic and they claimed to have taken precautions to prevent exposure of his food. If he just asked for no onions and had an allergic reaction because they messed up his order like every fast food restaurant in the world does sometimes, that is not gross negligence, that is a standard accident.
That would be the store’s best defense unless he claimed that the onions needed to be removed because of an allergy.
To the restaurant, it’s just an oops mistake. I’ve very often seen cross-contamination at places which assemble your burger or sub. Those little trays that hold the onions, pickles, lettuce, etc. very often have contamination from one of the neighboring trays.
Also, if he has an allergy to onions, why not check the burger before eating it? It’s not like onions are a hidden ingredient.
This case seems like a nothing burger, tbh. 🤭
I’m pretty certain that if you actually said to them that you wanted the onions removed because you were allergic to onions they would probably tell you they can’t guarantee there won’t be cross-contamination.
Hell they probably don’t use different tongues for onions as they do lettuce so it’s practically a guarantee they will be cross-contamination.
Having worked in food, there are specific allergy protocols that are observed when a food allergy is declared, at least if the restaurant doesn’t suck ass.
However you are correct, there is a warning usually in the menu somewhere that says they can’t promise food won’t be cross contaminated