A lawsuit was filed today against the Wendy’s restaurant chain whose North Ogden, Utah, restaurant was traced as the source of an E. coli O121:H19 outbreak in late June.
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 seeks compensation for the family’s significant medical-related expenses, economic losses, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
Corey Cohron consumed a Wendy’s salad while in attendance at a CORE Academy conference held at Orion Junior High School in Harrisville, Utah. In the following days, Corey became ill with symptoms of E. coli infection, including diarrhea.
The remaining members of the Cohron family subsequently fell ill with diarrhea. Seven-year-old Wil Cohron suffered a particularly severe secondary E. coli infection. Wil was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome and was admitted to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
The Weber-Morgan Health Department suspects that the lettuce was cross-contaminated with another food source. WMHD stated that two additional people who had eaten food containing lettuce from the Wendy’s restaurant were confirmed to have E. coli, and 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 subsequently developed HUS and acute kidney failure. "Wendy’s is in the business of selling food — that food should be safe for human consumption."