Kucinich Sues Congressional Cafeteria

Via Ben Smith, the most amusing congressional story of the month:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich has sued a U.S. House of Representatives cafeteria for selling him a sandwich wrap that caused dental damage when he bit into a pitted olive, according to a Jan. 3 lawsuit filed in Superior Court for the District of Columbia.

The Cleveland Democratic congressman's lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages from companies that operate the Longworth House Office Building's cafeteria.

It says he bought the suspicious sandwich wrap "on or about April 17, 2008," and eating it caused "permanent dental and oral injuries requiring multiple surgical and dental procedures."

"Said sandwich wrap was unwholesome and unfit for human consumption in that it was presented to contain pitted olives, yet unknown to plaintiff, contained an unpitted olive or olives which plaintiff did not reasonably expect to be in the food prepared for him, and could not visually detect prior to consumption," the lawsuit said.

It's not clear how much Kucinich has spent on dental work, but the $150,000 he's demanding includes payment he's allegedly entitled to because of "pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment and other damages." It seems the crucial question here is whether said unpitted olive was inside the wrap--and out of sight as Kucinich alleges--or served on the side.