Food Poisoning Lawsuits
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Let’s say you have dinner at one of your favorite restaurants, or you try the new hot spot downtown, then you come home feeling…not so great. You may have food poisoning. It could be mild, it could be severe. Sometimes people just let it go, never to return to that establishment again; and some people sue the restaurant for negligence.The challenge with suing a restaurant is proving that the restaurant is directly responsible for causing your illness, especially when some time has passed between the meal and your illness. Often we don’t think we may have food poisoning until several hours later; in the case of a dinner, often not until the next morning. And sometimes we ingest other food between the time we were “poisoned” and when the illness presents itself.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food poisoning is the most frequently reported restaurant injury. The CDC reports approximately 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths in the U.S. each year due to food poisoning. Since most cases of food poisoning cannot be cured by medication, people are often stuck painfully waiting it out; which means missing school or work.
It could also mean lost pay, medical expenses, pain and suffering – and sometimes, even more.
Food poisoning is caused by bacteria which can get inside us in several ways. It is usually through meat or poultry, but it can also be through other products which aren’t kept properly refrigerated. Also, if a waiter or other staff member handles food with unclean hands, that bacteria could enter your system eventually.
Overall food poisoning can be the result of poor restaurant conditions, inadequate packaging, manufacturing impurity, or insufficient staff hygiene.
Some common types of food poisoning are:
• Salmonella
• Fish poisoning
• Staph Infection
• E. Coli
• Shigella
• Campylobacteriosis
• Cholera
Florida law requires businesses to exercise reasonable care to their customers. That duty refers to restaurants maintaining a safe and hygienic establishment without possible hazards or dangers.
In deciding negligence, a court will apply the “reasonably prudent person standard” which states that, when selecting, storing, and cooking food, a food provider has a duty to act as would a reasonably prudent person who is skilled in the selection and preparation of food.
• The plaintiff must establish the following elements in a negligence claim against a restaurant:
• the restaurant owed the plaintiff a duty to exercise reasonable care;
• the restaurant breached this duty owed to the plaintiff;
• the restaurant’s breach was the direct cause of the plaintiff’s food poisoning; and
damages resulted.
Causation is tough to prove so you need your attorney to gather the correct evidence and coordinate with your doctor to pinpoint the food that is responsible for the illness.
Some plaintiffs may also be able to file third party claims. For instance, a products liability claim if the food was purchased was defective. In those instances, the plaintiff must show that the hazardous food was the proximate cause of the illness. The plaintiff does not have to demonstrate that the establishment failed to use reasonable care. A business can be liable under products liability law for the mere act of selling contaminated food.
Shapiro, Goldman, Babboni Fernandez & Walsh are the personal injury specialists. We are here to help you navigate Florida’s civil court system. Schedule an appointment now for a free case review at lawyers@justicepays.com.