Our Salmonella lawyers are investigating a Salmonella outbreak in Illinois that has been associated with the McDonalds restaurant in Bloomington.”We have been contacted by several people who were diagnosed with Salmonella after eating at the Bloomington McDonalds,” said Attorney Fred Pritzker.
Health officials believe sick McDonalds employees transmitted the illnesses. “Generally, restaurants are responsible for illnesses caused by sick employees,” said Pritzker, who has won money for Salmonella victims sickened at restaurants in cases where a contaminated food item was not found.
Restaurant management needs to take every measure to prevent food handlers from working when they have diarrhea or a fever. Dangerous pathogens like Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli and Campylobacter can get into food when a sick employee does not wash his or her hands adequately. It only takes a few cells of bacteria to make someone extremely sick.
Some of the questions that need answering in these cases are the following:
- What is the hand washing policy and how is it enforced?
- Are employees with diarrhea or a fever sent home?
- Does a restaurant policy work to encourage employees to come to work even when sick?
- Was there a sanitation issue that would have allowed contamination of food at the restaurant, including cross-contamination or human to food contamination?
According to the Illinois Department of Health, the illnesses are Salmonella Stanley, a rare and particularly severe form of Salmonella. This means that those sickened are at risk of serious complications, including one or more of the following:
- Reactive arthritis (formerly called Reiter’s syndrome);
- Salmonella meningitis or other brain damage;
- Salmonella colitis (intestinal tissue damage and death in cases where there is bloody diarrhea);
- Kidney failure;
- Sepsis (systemwide damage when the infection enters the bloodstream).
Pritzker Hageman attorneys are lead attorneys for these cases. You can contact them for a free consultation here or call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free).
