KFC Ordered to Pay $8.3M to Poisoned Girl

A judge has ordered KFC to pay an Australian family $8.3 million after their daughter was poisoned and suffered brain damage after eating at the fast-food chain. Her lawyer says Monika Samaan contracted salmonella in 2005 after eating a Twister chicken wrap and fell into a six-month coma; she has since lost her ability to speak and is confined to a wheelchair. Among the more salacious tidbits: He also argued that the restaurant would serve chicken that had fallen on the floor. KFC says the evidence doesn't prove it is responsible for Monika's condition, and it plans to appeal, the BBC reports.

"We feel deeply for Monika and the Samaan family. However, we also have a responsibility to defend KFC's reputation as a provider of safe, high-quality food," says a rep. Samaan's parents and brother also got sick after the meal, but they recovered, their lawyer says. "Monika's severe brain damage and severe disability has already exhausted the very limited resources of the family," he notes. But "KFC have to date been determined that Monika does not receive a cent." (More KFC stories.)