McDonald's Already Getting Sued Over E. Coli Cases

At least 2 complaints have been filed this week, by customers in Colorado and Nebraska
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 25, 2024 10:49 AM CDT
McDonald's Already Getting Sued Over E. Coli Cases
A sign at a McDonald's restaurant is displayed on April 29 in Albany, Oregon.   (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

At least two people have already filed suit against McDonald's following a deadly E. coli outbreak in multiple states tied to the fast-food chain's Quarter Pounder burgers. What's to know:

  • Lawsuit No. 1: In a complaint filed Wednesday in Illinois, where McDonald's is headquartered, Colorado man Eric Stelly claims he consumed food from a Mickey D's in Greeley on Oct. 4 and was hit with an E. coli diagnosis just a few days later, reports Reuters. Stelly says he suffered "gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, stomach cramps, nausea, and dehydration, as well as bloody stools," per a release from attorney Ron Simon, who's repping at least 15 other people who say they were affected by the outbreak that has killed one and sickened about 75 others, based on the latest CDC count. Local health officials contacted Stelly to let him know his case was tied to the McDonald's outbreak, according to the suit, which is going after the chain for negligence, product liability, and breach of implied warranties, per CNN.

  • Lawsuit No. 2: The second case comes out of Nebraska, where Clarissa DeBock's suit says she ended up in the ER due to cramping, diarrhea, and nausea on Sept. 25, five days after the 33-year-old had eaten a Quarter Pounder at a McDonald's in North Platte, per NBC News. She tested positive for the same strain of E. coli that the CDC identified in the McDonald's outbreak. "I don't know that I trust to eat out for a little while," DeBock says. Her suit seeks compensation for lost wages, medical costs, and physical and emotional suffering.
  • Other cases: At least 10 people out of the dozens sickened have been hospitalized. Simon says one of his clients is a child who developed sepsis and ended up in the hospital for more than a week.

  • Investigation: The outbreak is thought to be tied to slivered onions served with the chain's Quarter Pounders (but not with most other menu items), a theory supported by the USDA. Per Reuters, however, a state partner of the agency is also testing Mickey D's beef for E. coli. McDonald's has halted distribution of the slivered onions and pulled Quarter Pounders from its menus in at least 20% of its locations nationwide, reports CBS News. One of the company's suppliers, Taylor Farms, has also put out a recall of four raw-onion products, though it says it hasn't yet found any trace of E. coli in its testing.
  • McDonald's: "Food safety is our top priority," Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA, tells NBC. "What's important today is that we've taken the action to protect the American public and promote public health."
  • Were you affected? Food safety experts say that E. coli symptoms show up within a day or two, though it can take weeks to figure out if someone was caught up in an outbreak. However, "if you ate these burgers in September and now it's the middle of October and you didn't get sick, you're probably OK," Rutgers' Donald Schaffner tells CBS.
(Other fast-food chains are pulling the onions thought to be at the center of the outbreak.)

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