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A New York City woman is suing Chipotle, DoorDash and the “dasher” who delivered her food, after claiming she “bit into a rodent” lurking in her burrito bowl.
Gia Bernhardt, 24, says the experience caused her “pain, shock and severe mental anguish,” and that “these injuries and their effects will be permanent,” according to a civil complaint obtained by The Independent.
On January 11, Bernhardt ordered a burrito bowl and chips and guacamole from a Chipotle on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, via the DoorDash app, the complaint states. It says the meal was prepared and packed up at the store, then “delivered to plaintiff… for consumption.”
The complaint goes on to contend that when Bernhardt tucked into the burrito bowl, she “bit into a rodent contained within the meal she was consuming, causing her to suffer severe bodily injuries.”
“[T]he rodent was within the plaintiff’s mouth after biting into the meal,” according to the complaint, which was filed Monday in New York County Supreme Court.
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A Manhattan Chipotle is under fire for allegedly serving a customer a burrito bowl with a rodent lurking within. (Getty Images)
Chipotle “knew or should have known that its product was dangerous to member(s) of the general public,” Bernhardt’s complaint goes on.
“Despite that knowledge, defendant, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., failed to warn plaintiff at any time of the substantial risk of injury or death from the ingestion of the ‘burrito bowl,’” the complaint states.
It does not specify what Bernhardt’s physical injuries consisted of, and what type of rodent she discovered. The presence of the rodent created “an unreasonably dangerous condition” for Bernhardt, according to the complaint.
Chipotle, for its part, told The Independent that it plans to push back firmly against the suit.
“We strongly deny the allegations in this complaint, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against these claims,” Chief Corporate Affairs and Food Safety Officer Laurie Schalow said in an emailed statement. “The health and safety of our employees and guests is our highest priority, and we have industry-leading food safety practices in place across our restaurants.”
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A Chipotle burrito bowl, like the one seen here, was hiding a rodent within, according to Manhattan resident Gia Bernhardt. She is now suing the chain after claiming to have bitten into the animal carcass, causing her unspecified ‘severe bodily injuries.’ (Creative Commons 4.0)
DoorDash, which did not respond to a request for comment, is named in the suit as a co-defendant, as well as the “John Doe” who “delivered the ‘burrito bowl and chips and guacamole’ on behalf of Defendants Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. and DoorDash, Inc.” Bernhardt’s complaint says she was “consuming the product… in accordance with its intended use,” but that Doe “improperly and negligently delivered the product in an unsafe and unsanitary manner.”
In 2020, a Chipotle in Upper Manhattan made headlines after four employees claimed they were bitten by “massive” rats that were eating the store’s avocados and shut down its computerized ordering system by chewing through the wiring. Workers told the New York Post that they had killed “dozens of the rodents by stomping on them, smacking them with broom handles, dropping boxes on them and various other medieval methods of extermination.”
In 2017, diners at a Dallas Chipotle captured scenes on video of mice crawling around the floor, with one climbing one of the restaurant’s walls. One customer told the local NBC affiliate that three rats fell from the ceiling and nearly landed on her lunch. The location closed temporarily so it could be “thoroughly checked out,” according to Chipotle, which said the problem was limited to “a few mice.”
Last year, a Chipotle in New Haven, Connecticut voluntarily shut down for a period due to a “rodent control” issue, which the company blamed on the location’s landlord.
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The Upper East Side Chipotle location which Gia Bernhardt claims sent her a tainted burrito bowl. (Google Maps)
Bernhardt says in her complaint that the allegedly tainted burrito bowl “has caused [her] to incur, and will continue to incur, expenses for medical care and attention,” and that, “as a further result, [she] was, and will continue to be, rendered unable to perform [her] normal activities and duties.”
Chipotle, the complaint argues, “owed a duty of care to customers of its restaurant to provide food that is safe and sanitary for human consumption,” and that “defendant’s conduct in serving plaintiff… food containing a rodent endangered plaintiff’s physical safety and/or caused plaintiff to fear for her physical safety.”
The fact that Chipotle served Bernhardt “food containing a rodent” was “extreme and outrageous,” according to the complaint.
Bernhardt is demanding a money judgment from Chipotle and DoorDash, including compensatory and punitive damages, to be determined in court. Her attorney, Steven Vaccaro, did not respond to requests for comment.
Dining and Cooking