Little Caesars Sued For $100M: Muslim Man Says He Accidentally Ate Pork

(UPDATED) DEARBORN, MI — A Dearborn man of Muslim faith is suing Little Caesars for $100 million after he says he was served and then accidentally ate pepperoni made with pork, a food prohibited by Islamic law. Mohamad Bazzi twice ordered halal pizza from a Schaefer Road Little Caesars in Dearborn.

The boxes were labeled "halal," but the pies inside were topped with regular pepperoni. Halal meat is prepared as prescribed by Muslim law. "There's different schools of Islamic law that allows for the eating of chicken and beef, but there is no such thing as halal pork,” Majed Moughni, Bazzi's attorney, told the Detroit Free Press. “The pork itself is forbidden.”

The suit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court on Thursday. Moughni told the newspaper he rushed to file the lawsuit on the eve of Ramadan, so no other Muslims would accidentally eat pork from the Schaefer Road Little Caesars during the holiday.

"It's really upsetting," Moughni told the Free Press. "My clients want the public to know. Especially during Ramadan, it would be a travesty if Muslims ... in Dearborn bought pizza from Little Caesars and discovered they were eating pork."

In a Friday afternoon statement obtained by Patch, Little Caesars says it values all of its customers. “Little Caesars cherishes our customers from all religions and cultures, and the communities we serve are very important to us,” Jill Proctor, Little Caesars Spokesperson, said in the statement. “While we can’t comment on pending litigation, we take this claim very seriously. At this time, we believe it is without merit.”

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For a Muslim, consuming pork is "one of the worst sins you can do," Moughni said. A spokeswoman for Little Caesars did not immediately return messages seeking comment, the Free Press reported.

In the lawsuit, Bazzi said he and his wife were midway through eating a pizza he had brought home from the shop when they realized it had pork pepperoni. Bazzi knew it was pork because he used to work in a pizza place and knows the different types of pepperoni, Moughni told the Free Press. He also said Bazzi's wife could tell because she is a Catholic convert to Islam who grew up eating pork.

They "became sick to their stomach," according to the lawsuit. Three days later, they filed a police report. The second incident happened May 24, the day before the lawsuit was filed.

It’s not the first time Moughni has brought a lawsuit against a fast food restaurant for serving non-Halal meat labeled as such. In 2011, a suit was brought against a Ford Road McDonald’s in Dearborn over claims that it was selling non-halal chicken it claimed was halal, the Free Press reported. The case was settled for $700,000.

Photo by Mike Mozart via Flickr Commons