As the Associated Press reported today, a West Virginia federal bankruptcy judge has allowed us to sue on behalf of more than 80 people who were sickened by salmonella-tainted tomatoes the company supplied the tomatoes and the Sheetz convenience store chain.

Federal Judge L. Edward Friend II signed an order yesterday allowing plaintiffs to sue Coronet Foods Inc., a bankrupt Wheeling, W.Va., company, and Sheetz after attorneys for Coronet said they didn't want to mediate the lawsuits.

Coronet shut down in October and filed bankruptcy shortly after a few lawsuits were filed. The company has $11 million worth of insurance covering it.

Food inspectors also said Coronet and Sheetz did nothing wrong, but under the law they can be held liable because they supplied and prepared the tomatoes for human consumption.