SANTA ANA, CA – Four women sued an Irvine restaurant after one of them said she found a condom in her clam chowder when they dined there last year.

Laila Sultan said she was eating at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant on Feb. 26, 2002, when she bit into something rubbery.

“We said, `Of course. You’re chewing on a clam,'” said Paula Wild, one of her dining companions.

When she spit it out, Sultan, 48, said she discovered it was an unwrapped, rolled-up condom.

She said she spent the next 15 minutes in a restroom, vomiting, and has since seen a psychiatrist and taken medication for depression and anxiety.

Sultan, Wild, Cindy Hammond and Annamarie Sigala, who were all having the clam chowder that day, filed suit, claiming negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Their case is scheduled for trial Jan. 12.

A lawyer for the restaurant said McCormick & Schmick’s has no idea how the condom got into the soup.

“It’s as big a mystery to us as it is to anybody else,” said attorney Patrick Stark. “We are going to argue there is absolutely no evidence to suggest the restaurant was the source of the condom, or any employee of the restaurant.”

McCormick & Schmick’s, a privately owned chain that owns 42 upscale restaurants in 19 states, sued the company that supplied its clams. A judge ruled in favor of the supplier last September.

Sultan, who lives in Stanton, said she had visited the restaurant before and never had a problem.

On this occasion, she said, she and her companions ordered drinks, appetizers and soup, but sent the soup back because it was lukewarm. When she got it back she found the condom.

Editor’s Note: One more example that you shouldn’t piss off the chef!