Can you think of other situations today for which this case might serve as legal precedent?
Webster v. Blue Ship Tearoom. Can you think of other situations today for which this case might serve as legal precedent?
PRISCILLA D. WEBSTER V. BLUE SHIP TEA ROOM, INC. SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS
FACTS: Priscilla Webster, a restaurant patron who ordered seafood chowder and choked on a fishbone, brought this case. She maintained that she would not have reasonably expected to find a bone in the chowder. As a result of the bone in the chowder, Webster suffered through several hospital procedures to remove the bone, at considerable cost and pain. At the trial, a jury found for Webster. The Blue Ship Tea Room, the defendant, appealed the case on the basis of the legal interpretation of the implied warranty of merchantability. The appellate decision has become a classic in American jurisprudential reasoning.
REASONING: The court, in great detail, discussed the rich culinary history of New England seafood chowders. In going through the details of exactly how good chowder is made, the court praised the richness of thick, plump, delicious pieces of fish and shellfish. Completely ridding the chowder of any possibility of bones would require the cook to mince the seafood finely, depriving the dish of one of its hallmark characteristics. Further, the court argued that anyone eating good New England seafood chowder would know or should know that fishbones are indeed a possibility.
DECISION AND REMEDY: As lamentable as Webster’s injuries were, the court found that the Blue Ship Tea Room had not breached its implied warranty of merchantability.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CASE: Common sense needs to apply in defining “merchantability.” Clearly, a piece of bone in a hamburger is unreasonable and would violate the implied warranty. However, in cases when the buyer should expect a problem, such as a possible fishbone in a seafood dish, the buyer must be prepared to accept the situation.
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