If you happen to have a hammer, it’s been said, every problem looks like a nail.
But if you’re a part-time law student, chances are every problem looks like a potential lawsuit.
Was that the case for a German tourist who spent six days in the United States in 2024?
Faycal Manz visited Los Tacos No. 1 in New York City’s Times Square in August of that year.
He slathered his order with green salsa, took one bite, and instantly felt “severe physical symptoms,” according to a report by Gothamist.
“His tongue burned, his face turned red, and his heart rate soared,” according to the report. “He said he suffered gastrointestinal distress and mouth sores that lasted for days.”
The New York Post provided a bit more detail, saying Manz suffered from diarrhea and nausea, as well as “mouth/tongue blisters which cause nonstop pain.”
So what’s an out-of-towner to do when the food from Los Tacos No. 1 makes you… ahem… go No. 2?
Most of us would head for the corner drug store to grab some Imodium or Alka-Seltzer or Pepto-Bismol.
But Faycal Manz decided to sue.
Manz, who is an engineer and part-time law student from Schemmerhofen, according to The New York Times, demanded $100,000 from the Mexican restaurant chain for “failure to warn” customers of the “dangerous” condiment.
“Unfortunately, his painful salsa experience caused a loss ‘of enjoyment during my very short trip,’” according to the outlet.
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho wasn’t convinced.
He denied Manz’s claim and closed the case, ruling “there is no duty to warn a consumer of the spice-associated risks that come with consuming salsa.”
Alas, the spicy salsa incident was only the warm-up to the trauma Manz experienced in the Land of the Free.
On a subsequent shopping trip, he was shocked to find that his German phone could not connect to the Wi-Fi at the Walmart Supercenter in Secaucus, New Jersey.
So he sued again — this time for $10 million, claiming in his suit that the experience “caused a big emotional negative impact” that included “flashbacks to acts of discrimination he had suffered in school and at work,” The New York Times reported.
The federal judge in that case dismissed the suit, ruling that “a person with a German phone is not a member of a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
But Manz’s problems still were not behind him. He was again led to file another $10 million lawsuit, this time against the New York Police Department, “for not accepting his international phone number after he reported a crime,” according to the New York Post.
That encounter caused him “insomnia and intrusive flashbacks,” prompting his doctor to diagnose him with “psychosomatic and post-traumatic symptoms,” The New York Times reported.
After the NYPD responded, saying he “should have known… the risks and dangers” involved, “Mr. Manz dropped his lawsuit,” the outlet reported.
He filed all three suits on his own, without legal representation, The New York Times explained, adding that Manz “did not respond to an email seeking comment.”
So the German tourist struck out three times on recouping any of his travel expenses for his U.S. vacation.
On the bright side, maybe his law school professors will give him an “A” for effort.
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