Woman Sues Trader Joe's After Finding Rubber Glove Fingertip in Her Orange Juice

Trader Joe's is having a rough stretch with food-related lawsuits and this one is particularly hard to stomach.

A Portland woman named Julee O'Neil has filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County, Oregon alleging that a 52-ounce bottle of Trader Joe's organic orange juice she purchased in June 2025 contained the fingertip of a rubber glove — and that she may have accidentally swallowed what was inside it.

Here's how she described the moment of discovery. About five days after buying the juice, she was finishing the bottle when she pulled what she assumed was a large piece of pulp from her mouth. It was the fingertip of a rubber glove.

The concern that followed was obvious and deeply unpleasant. If a rubber glove fingertip was in there, what happened to the rest of it — and specifically, was there a piece of someone's actual finger inside that glove?

"She was and is concerned that the human hand that was in the tip of the glove was also severed and was part of the pulp she had been periodically drinking," the court filing read.

She went to urgent care with symptoms including gagging, nausea, and a burning sensation.

What She's Asking For

O'Neil initially sent Trader Joe's a written request for $10,000 to cover damages. The company didn't pay. So she filed the lawsuit seeking the same amount plus legal fees.

Ten thousand dollars is relatively modest as product liability lawsuits go — which either suggests she's keeping things reasonable or that she genuinely just wants someone to acknowledge that this happened and make it right.

Trader Joe's has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.

The Context Worth Knowing

KGW-TV noted that O'Neil has filed several civil suits in Multnomah County previously. In 2020, she sued Starbucks alleging she injured her knee after slipping in a water puddle. She also filed a suit against a massage therapist who she alleged injured her by stepping "improperly" on her neck. Both cases were ultimately dismissed — one at her own request.

That history doesn't determine what happened with the orange juice. But it's context a jury would likely hear if this ever gets that far.

For now the lawsuit is filed, the claim is out there, and somewhere in Portland a woman is thinking very carefully about pulp.

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