Seattle food safety expert and victims’ advocate has national reputation for success in food poisoning cases
LANSING, MI – Marler Clark will file a lawsuit today against Carrabba’s Italian Grill, the Lansing restaurant that was the source of a Norovirus outbreak that sickened over 400 people in late January and early February, 2006. The lawsuit will be filed in Eaton County Circuit Court, on behalf of a Lansing resident who ate at the restaurant on January 31, 2006, and subsequently became ill with Norovirus.
“In this case, it looks like employees at Carrabba’s made egregious food safety violations, which contributed to the spread of Norovirus among patrons of the restaurant,” said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. Marler has represented thousands of victims of major foodborne illness outbreaks across the country since 1993, when he represented the most severely injured survivors of the Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak.
Barry-Eaton District Health inspectors visited Carrabba’s on January 30 – the day before the plaintiff dined at the restaurant – and found six critical violations, four repeat violations, and a number of non-critical violations. Inspectors pointed to sick employees as a possible root cause of the outbreak.
“Allowing ill employees to handle food is always a food safety hazard,” Marler continued. “Restaurants should have paid sick leave policies in place to discourage employees from coming to work when they are not feeling well. This would greatly reduce the chances of restaurant customers becoming ill.”
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For more information on Norovirus and Norovirus litigation, visit www.about-norwalk.com, a site sponsored by Marler Clark.
More about the Carrabba's norovirus outbreak can be found in the Case News area of this site.