By ALAN FINDLAY -- Toronto Sun
A Toronto man is suing Starbucks Corp. for $2.2 million after
a faulty restaurant toilet seat allegedly crushed his penis
during a romantic weekend getaway.
"It's a terrible thing that happened," said Sherrie Skwarek,
wife of Edward Skwarek, both 37.
"It was supposed to be a romantic holiday."
Skwarek's lawyer, Richard Robbins, confirmed in New York
yesterday they had filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court
last Friday against the coffee giant.
"Our client, Edward Skwarek, was in a seated position on the
toilet when he turned to retrieve the toilet paper in back of
the seat when the seat shifted causing his penis to be caught
and crushed between the seat and the bowl," said Robbins.
The suit alleges the coffee house was careless in "allowing a
defective toilet seat to remain open ... causing a hazardous
and unsafe condition ... in its public restrooms."
Skwarek, a government financial worker, claimed that the
incident took place on Aug. 20, 1999, at a Starbucks in the
Chelsea district of Manhattan where he and his wife Sherrie
dropped in for some coffee.
Answering the couple's door last night, Sherrie said their
lawyer advised them not to comment on the matter. Her husband
remained in a back area of the Bathurst St.-St.Clair Ave. area
home as Sherrie spoke to a Toronto Sun reporter and
photographer on the stoop, describing the incident as traumatic
and embarrassing for both of them.
The suit claims that as a result of Starbucks' carelessness,
Skwarek suffered a "crushed penis, Peyronie's disease,
retrograde ejaculation with consequent substantial reduction in
sperm count, infertility, severe bruising to his penis and
sexual function impairment."
Peyronie's disease usually causes deviation of the erect penis
to one side.
Skwarek seeks $1.45 million in damages and his wife $750,000
Cdn because she has been "deprived of his services."
Alan Gulick, a spokesman at Starbucks in Seattle, where the
company is based, said Starbucks does not comment on pending
litigation.
