Outbreak News
Family Sues Wendy’s over E. coli Poisoning
PRESS RELEASEAugust 11 2006
OGDEN, UT — A lawsuit was filed today against Wendy’s, the Dublin, Ohio-based restaurant chain whose North Ogden, Utah, restaurant was traced as the source of an E. coli O121:H19 outbreak in late June, 2006. Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has successfully represented hundreds of E. coli victims, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Weber County residents William and J. Corey Cohron and their two young sons. The complaint, which was filed in Weber County Superior Court, seeks compensation for the family’s significant medical-related expenses, economic losses, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
On August 7, 2006, the Weber-Morgan Health Department announced that at least four individuals had contracted E. coli O121:H19 after eating iceberg lettuce prepared at the Wendy’s restaurant located at 2500 N 400 E in North Ogden. WMHD suspects that the lettuce was cross-contaminated with another food source, and that the lettuce itself was not contaminated. WMHD stated that three of the four people confirmed with E. coli O121:H19 had developed HUS.
“Wendy’s should have been aware of the dangers of cross-contamination leading to outbreaks since cross-contaminated lettuce was the source of an E. coli outbreak at two Oregon Wendy’s restaurants in 2000,” said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. Marler represented the families of several children who were part of the 2000 Wendy’s outbreak and developed HUS and suffered acute kidney failure. “Wendy’s is in the business of selling food – that food should be safe for human consumption.”
More on this outbreak: Wendy's E. coli Outbreak (Utah)
