An appeals court upheld a $3.2 million award to a woman who said she suffered permanent nerve damage after eating tainted sushi.
Alexis Sarti, 25, of Costa Mesa won the money from a jury more than two years ago but a judge overturned the award. In a 30-page decision made public Monday, the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed that decision.
â€I never actually thought the day would ever come,†Sarti said. “I am still in shock. The money wasn’t an issue for me. I had my day in court and I was happy with it. The money doesn’t make me a better person,†she said.
Sarti became ill after eating raw ahi tuna at the Salt Creek Grille in DanaPoint in April 2005. Her lawsuit contended that the tuna was contaminated by bacteria from raw poultry.
â€I’m very disappointed. I think it makes a major and unwarranted change in the law relating to proof in food poisoning cases,†the restaurant’s attorney, Roy G. Weatherup, said Tuesday of the appellate decision.
Weatherup said he presented evidence that it was “physically impossible†for Sarti to have contracted the bacteria at the restaurant because she fell ill only a day later.
He said there were eight other ways she could have been exposed to the bacteria, including from a cat or an infant nephew staying at her parents’ home, eating at other restaurants or handling chicken at the supermarket where she worked.
Her lawsuit said she was temporarily paralyzed, spent 49 days in the hospital and afterward lost much of her endurance. She used a walker for eight months, often had to use a wheelchair and had to drop out of college for 18 months to undergo treatment and therapy.
