Seattle-based Marler Clark will be filing its third lawsuit on behalf of a victim of last year’s E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to Taco John’s restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota.

The lawsuit was filed against Taco John’s in Minnesota state court on behalf of Albert Lea resident Julie Johnson and her young son, Mitchell. Mitchell is one of at least 33 Minnesota residents who became ill with E. coli infections after eating contaminated food at Taco John’s restaurants.

On the heels of investigations into other large E. coli outbreaks traced to California produce, the FDA has announced that investigators from FDA and the state of California, working in conjunction with state health officials in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, had isolated the Taco John’s outbreak strain of E. coli from dairy farms near California’s Central Valley, where the contaminated spinach was grown, on January 12.

“It’s time for restaurants to demand more stringent safety standards on the part of their fresh produce suppliers,” said William Marler, attorney for Ms. Johnson. “Taco John’s and companies like Taco Bell need to use their purchasing power as an influence for industry change. This could become a classic economics lesson in supply and demand.”