Divided court rules pair can’t sue over E. coli

The Associated Press reports that in a split decision, Wyoming Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit seeking damages against the town of Alpine for an E. coli outbreak in 1998.
At least 62 people became ill in what health officials said at the time was the country’s largest outbreak of the infection linked to possible contaminated wildlife waste in the town’s municipal water source.
Lisa and Kim Wilson, who claimed they were poisoned while staying in the western Wyoming town on July 2, 1998, filed the initial claim in 1999, which was denied. They then sued the town in 2000. The Wyoming Supreme Court agreed with the 2004 decision on Monday.
The case was dismissed in 2004 because the Wilsons had not certified the initial claim with their own signatures. It is a requirement in the state of Wyoming that for a claim against the government to meet constitutional muster, it must be sworn to by the claimant through a personal signature, not an attorney’s signature.
The case is Lisa G. Wilson and Kim Wilson v. Town of Alpine, 2005 WY 57.