Worker sues Dole Food Company over sting from hidden scorpion

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Nov 15, 2006 by Allison Retka

The perpetrator was 3 inches long, jet black with a mighty sting.

It attacked Earlene Mack's finger as she unloaded a crate of Dole bananas at Christian Northeast Hospital, and now, two years after the "terrifying" incident, Mack is suing Dole Food Co. for failing to inspect its produce crates for a scorpion that cost her seven days of work, numerous hospital bills and a lifetime's wariness of creepy-crawlies.

The negligence and strict liability lawsuit against Dole was filed last week in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

A spokeswoman for Dole was unable to comment at press time.

Mack, a resident of Alton, Ill., works for Morrison Health Care Food Service, a company that supplies cafeteria services to area hospitals.

She was unpacking a shipment of bananas when, reaching for a bunch of fruit, she felt a sharp sting, dropped the bananas and caught a glimpse of the scorpion before it scuttled under the crate.

Mack clutched her left index finger and told co-workers she had been stung by a scorpion, but no one believed her.

She was quickly shuttled to the hospital's emergency room and it wasn't until later that a hospital maintenance worker found the scorpion under the banana crate and gingerly deposited it into a jar.

According to Mack's medical records, staff from the St. Louis Zoo were called in to examine the scorpion but were unable to identify the species and soon after killed the insect.

"I imagine it was pretty terrifying," said Michael Glisson, Mack's attorney with Williamson, Webster, Falb & Glisson in Alton. "You would expect a snake around. You would never expect anything remotely like this."

Mack's lawsuit claims she sustained permanent injuries to her head and finger and asks for a judgment in excess of $25,000.

She previously settled a worker's compensation claim with her employer over the incident, Glisson said.

******************CORRECTION****************************************

In the Nov. 15 issue of this paper, a story titled "Worker sues Dole Food Company over sting from hidden scorpion" incorrectly referred to the scorpion as an insect. Scorpions are of the arachnid class of animals.