help i found a staple in my cheeseburger.

[barcotta]

In my opinion, legal action should be considered after you have decided what remedy you believe is fair given the circumstance you are trying to resolve. In other words, make believe that there is no legal system. You almost ate two staples. What could that restaurant do to make it up to you? Decide what that is and ask for it. If you get it, you're done--because it's not about what you COULD get (for example, by extorting $$$ out of them so you don't reveal this problem to the press)--it's about what is right.

That's the thought process I recommend. What would I do? Absolutely nothing. From your description, their response was swift and appropriate. You didn't suffer any damage to your mouth or anything else--and even if you got a scratch in your mouth, I would not consider that minor injury worthy of any compensation beyond what they offered.

As for your concern with regard to what COULD have happened--it didn't. The ONLY grounds under which I would even consider taking action would be repeated similar events at the same restaurant where, despite my reports to management, no action was taken to prevent future events and I felt that they would continue to be negligent unless I took action and forced them to clean up their act.