First lawsuit filed against McDonald’s over its E. coli outbreak
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN
New York (CNN) — A Colorado man has filed the first lawsuit against McDonald’s relating to its E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders that, so far, has led to at least 49 illnesses across 10 states, including one death.
The lawsuit was filed one day after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a food safety alert warning that dozens of people reported eating the Quarter Pounder sandwich at McDonald’s before becoming sick.
Eric Stelly purchased food from a McDonald’s location in Greeley, Colorado three weeks ago and began experiencing several gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, cramps and bloody stools, which his lawyer notes is the most “common symptom” of E. coli, according to a press release from Ron Simon, the lawyer for the plaintiff.
After a few days later of continuing pain, he went to the emergency room of a local hospital and tested positive for E. coli. Stelly is still recovering from the sickness, the release says.
The lawsuit, a copy of which was posted online by Bloomberg Law, accuses McDonald’s of product liability, negligence and breach of implied warranties. It was filed Wednesday in a Cook County, Illinois court, where Chicago-based McDonald’s is headquartered.
A specific ingredient has not been confirmed as the source of the outbreak, but the US Food and Drug Administration says that the slivered onions or beef patties on Quarter Pounder sandwiches are the likely source of contamination.
McDonald’s didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment about the lawsuit.
On Wednesday, McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger said on NBC’s “Today” that it’s safe to eat at McDonald’s and that affected ingredients are probably out of the supply chain at restaurants.
“We are very confident that you can go to McDonald’s and enjoy our classics” without getting sick, he said.
“If there has been contaminated product within our supply chain, it’s very likely worked itself through that supply chain already,” but he acknowledged that the number of illnesses reported may rise as the CDC investigates and traces cases.
“Serving customers safely in every single restaurant, each and every day, is our top priority,” McDonald’s said in a statement Tuesday.
Simon, which describes his office as a national food safety law firm, is also representing at least 10 other “victims in the outbreak” in addition to Stelly, according to the release.
“The McDonald’s E. coli Outbreak will be one of the most significant food poisoning outbreaks this year,” Simon said in a press release. “Through this lawsuit and others, we will make sure that all of the victims are fully compensated for their losses, that their voices are heard, and that McDonald’s and its suppliers permanently fix the health violations that caused the food to become contaminated with E. coli.”
Also on Thursday, a second lawsuit was filed by the same lawyer on behalf of Clarissa DeBock, a Nebraska resident who ate at a McDonald’s in September and later was diagnosed with E. coli, according to a complaint by the law firm. She’s still recovering from her symptoms, the complaint said.
Quarter Pounder problems
McDonald’s has taken Quarter Pounders off the menu in about a fifth of its stores. The company has stopped using the onions as well as quarter-pound beef patties in several states, including Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The investigation continues, the CDC said.
The beef patties are used only for the Quarter Pounders, and the slivered onions are used primarily for the Quarter Pounder and not other items, according to the CDC. Diced onions and other types of beef patties used at McDonald’s have not been implicated in this outbreak, the FDA said.
McDonald’s supplier Taylor Farms Colorado says it is working closely with the FDA and CDC. It says it has removed yellow onions from the market “out of an abundance of caution,” the company said Wednesday.
A Taylor Farms spokesperson said it has found no traces of E. coli in tests of raw or finished onions. “We have never seen E. coliO157:H7 associated with onions in the past,” the statement said.
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CNN’s Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.
