A friend of mine was bitten by a rat while eating in a mcdonalds. The rat bit him on his ankle. There were several witnesses. My friend is not too bright though. Can he be compensated for this?

Your friend's intelligence level has nothing to do with the situation.

Did he report the bite to the manager on duty at the time the bite happened? Did that manager take a report concerning the incident?

Does the restaurant in question have a known problem with a rat infestation?

Did your friend seek medical assistance at the time and was he treated for Rabies or other rat borne communicable infections?

Does your friend have an attorney?

Next two steps your friend should take. Call the Health Department and report the rat bite to them. Follow their instructions with respect to medical treatments.

Go see an attorney and have complete documentation regarding the incident along with the names and contact phone numbers of the witnesses and Mc Donald's employees.

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Originally Posted by mistermonday

a friend of mine was bitten by a rat while eating in a mcdonalds. the rat bit him on his ankle. there were several witnesses. my friend is not too bright though. can he be compensated for this?

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Well, I've done thousands of investigations through the years and this is a new one for me!

Concerning financial compensation for the incident: what were your friend's damages? I would assume medical bills, perhaps scarring. That is what this incident is "worth," lawsuit-wise.

Did your friend file an incident report at the time? Does he have a copy?

The next step - if there are damages, whether your friend has the incident report, is to arrange a consultation with an Attorney. Your friend should take any information he has with him (names of witnesses, a copy of the incident report, medical bills). Your friend most definitely should NOT make contact with McDonalds in any fashion, including with their employees. That is what Attorneys do through investigators. The investigator will determine if there is a past history of rats at this location, what was done, general background.

Any contact with management or witnesses "usually" burns the case - that is, the witnesses/management are now on notice and clam up or decide not to be involved.

If it's purely a nuisance claim the Attorney will advise your friend how to handle it directly with McDonalds and their insurance carrier - but, again, make no contacted with McDonalds until the Attorney reviews the facts of the matter.

EDIT: And FrChuck is right. Whether this is a legal matter your friend needs to seek medical treatment if he has not done so already.

Of course he needs to get the names of witnesses that saw it, ( not just his friends) but people at other tables not related.

He will need to have the bite examined (this is super important since rats carrry all sorts of illness)

And to reaffirm since this is not normal behavior for mice or rats, they would normally run from people, this wound needs treatment.

Rats and mice usually come out at night when there are no people around. I find this rather interesting that a rat would come out during the daytime. The rat obviously had some sort of disease that would make him act against his normal nighttime hours of seeking food.

Also, was the local Health Department notified also of this incident? This is important as the Health Department should have inspected this restaurant after the attack for proof or non proof of any rats on the premises.

Definitey consult an attorney if your friend went to the ER and had the appropriate medical attention and hopefully the proper shots. He would be compensated for his medical bills and maybe a few dollars on top of that, but I don't forsee him making millions on a lawsuit.