Judge grants trial delay in San Jose doctor’s injury claim from Los Gatos eatery’s spicy ‘Dragon Balls’ dish

A San Jose doctor suing a Los Gatos Thai restaurant she accuses of injuring her internally with a too-spicey “Dragon Balls” appetizer scored a court win this week when a judge reversed an earlier decision refusing to delay the trial.

Neurologist Harjasleen Walia, who sued Coup de Thai in 2023, had separated from her lawyer in May and begun representing herself. After she obtained a new attorney last month, she — and the restaurant — asked judge Evette Pennypacker to delay the trial start date to March 2 from August 25.

The new lawyer, Millbrae-based David Shane, argued in court filings that Walia needed more time to familiarize him with her case, and possibly pursue a settlement via a mediator.

Late last month, Pennypacker rejected the request, saying the trial date was known when Shane started representing Walia, and that there was “ample time before trial to engage in settlement discussions.”

But on Wednesday, the judge said she had reconsidered, and granted an even longer delay. The trial is to start March 23, Pennypacker ordered. She warned the parties in the case that “absent a documented medical emergency,” no further extension would be granted.

Walia’s lawsuit claimed she “incurred permanent injuries and will forever be damaged” by the $11 chicken-meatball dish at the downtown restaurant in wealthy Los Gatos. The appetizer burned her vocal cords, esophagus and the inside of her right nostril, the lawsuit filed in in Santa Clara County Superior Court alleged.

Walia is seeking unspecified damages, plus medical expenses and compensation for allegedly lost earnings. Coup de Thai in an October 2023 court filing denied Walia’s allegations. The trial is expected to take five to seven days.

A headache and brain-injury specialist at HeadacheAwayMD Brain & Spine Center in west San Jose, Walia ate at Coup de Thai in July 2021, the lawsuit said. She asked her server to have the Dragon Balls, advertised as spicy, made with less spice because “she does not tolerate spicy foods,” the lawsuit claimed. The server told her the chef would make the dish less spicy, the lawsuit alleged. After the lawsuit was filed, a supervisor at Coup de Thai told this news organization that Dragon Balls cannot be made in a “mild” version because the chili is inside them, and diners requesting Dragon Balls but saying they cannot handle spicy foods are usually prompted to try a different item, the supervisor said.

Coup de Thai currently advertises the dish on its menu for $12, describing it as, “Spicy chicken ball fried with mint, shallot, green onion, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, chili, and rice powder, served hot.”

Soon after starting to eat the dish, Walia “felt her entire mouth, the roof of her mouth, her tongue, her throat and her nose burn like fire,” and she began coughing, the lawsuit claimed. She started to lose her voice and received a diagnosis of internal “chemical burns” from chili peppers in the Dragon Balls, the lawsuit claimed.

Thai “bird’s eye” chili was the culprit, making the dish “unfit for human consumption,” the lawsuit alleged.

A doctor at the Washington, D.C.-based National Capital Poison Center told this news organization earlier that Thai chilis — spicier than cayenne peppers but not as hot as habaneros — can irritate the mouth and throat and cause nausea and heartburn. However, said Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, the chilis “are not associated with permanent tissue damage.”