Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that the Department of Corrections is not shielded from liability for distributing a potentially contaminated product -- a box of raisins -- just because it was doing so as a part of a program for the public good.

The high court vacated a lower court decision and sent it back to Superior Court for more action.

Thomas Adams had sued the state Department of Corrections in 2006 after he fell ill after eating a box of raisins from a local food bank that contained an insect.

Adams blamed the department, which acts as a central distribution center for food received from the federal government to be disseminated to local food banks.

Adams participated in a food giveaway at the food bank at St. Raymond Church in October 2004, and got a number of food items, including a 15-ounce box of raisins. Adams said he opened the factory sealed box and ate the raisins, noticing an unusual taste and texture as he ate the final raisin. As he peered into the empty box, Adams said he found what he would later find out was a two-week-old Indian meal moth larva and insect dung near the bottom of the box.

It was nearly two years later when Adams filed a complaint against the Department of Corrections, blaming the organization for his physical and emotional damages. Thomas claimed that after discovering the insect in the raisin box, "he suffered nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of sleep and mental anguish for several days."

In November 2007, a judge ruled in favor of the Department of Corrections, saying that the Public Duty Doctrine, which protects the government from liability while preforming certain functions on behalf of the citizenry, is applicable because the department was acting on behalf of he public good.

The state high court said, however, since a private company could perform the same function (storing or distributing food) and that Adams' alleged injuries resulted from improper storage of the food, then the public duty doctrine does not apply.

"The fact that government function is undertaken 'for the public good' will not suffice to bring said function within the ambit of the public duty doctrine unless it can also be shown that the function (or a closely analogous function) cannot be performed by a private party."

Extra: Read the court's decision

 Tags  Providence RI raisins RI Department of Corrections RI Supreme Court

Comments

pod said:

Let me get this right. He took some free food which had a moth in the box and he was grossed out and vomited a few times. This minor incident has found its way to tie up a lower court and now the supreme court of RI. Is any of this sensible or proportionate? Why didn't someone agree to give him a blankie and a teddy bear along with $20 for his trouble before it wasted so much time and money? Isn't there a filter for such moronic trivial cases to keep them from clogging up the pipelines of justice? A bloody box of raisins that were sealed which he was given for free. What am I missing?

Link | June 30, 2009 3:17 PM
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tom said:

Eating 15 oz of raisins would make anyone sick

Link | June 30, 2009 10:03 PM
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