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Sizzler E. coli Lawsuits Settled

Milwaukee, WI -- Twenty lawsuits that were filed this summer against Sizzler USA and its Milwaukee, Wisconsin franchise on behalf of victims of the July 2000 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak have been settled out of court. The amounts of the settlements will remain confidential.

William Marler, the attorney recognized nationwide for his successful representation of foodborne illness victims, said the settlements ranged from adults who suffered painful and embarassing symptoms for several days at a time, to children hospitalized for weeks and who required life-saving dialysis to combat the fatal kidney disease Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (“HUS”).

“I commend Sizzler, its insurance carriers and lawyers for willingly resolving these cases with my clients,” Marler said. “It was the responsible thing to do and I am pleased they paid their fair share.”

Marler stated that the litigation against Excel Corporation, the Fort Morgan, Colorado-based meat processor that supplied Sizzler with the E. coli contaminated meat will go forward. “It is important the meat packers Excel remain on the hook. After all, it was manufactured the infected meat that caused so much suffering, and even a child’s death.” He continued, “Excel was cited 26 times over the 10-month period prior to the Milwaukee outbreak for letting feces contaminate its meat, it was aware of the danger it was creating, but choose to do nothing about it. And ultimately it shipped this deadly bacteria on to Milwaukee consumers.”

In fact, an investigation by the Washington Post and NBC’s newsmagazine Dateline, last April found that the meat that caused the Milwaukee outbreak “came from a Colorado slaughterhouse where beef repeatedly had been contaminated with feces, E coli’s favorite breeding ground. Federal inspectors had know of the problems at the plant and had documented them dozens of times.”

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Marler Clark has extensive experience representing victims of food-borne illness. The firm’s attorneys are currently lead counsel in actions related to E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, and hepatitis-A outbreaks in more than a dozen states. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, visit www.marlerclark.com. For more information about the most common foodborne illnesses that afflict the U.S. food supply, please visit www.foodborneillness.com.

More about the Sizzler E. coli outbreak can be found in the Case News area of this site.

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