Anthony Welsch of KIMT NewsChannel 3 reported on our filing of our third E. coli lawsuit, and first in Minnesota, against Taco Johns.  I was in Albert Lea yesterday meeting with several other clients.  According to Mr. Welsch:

The E. coli outbreak hit about 80 people — of those, 26 were sent to the hospital. There were no deaths. Health officials say contaminated lettuce from California was the source of the E. coli.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Julie Johnson from Albert Lea filed suit on behalf of herself and her three year old son Mitchell. She says they were both sick and suffered because of contaminated lettuce. Her attorney says Taco Johns is to blame.

“Taco Johns has complete responsibility, regardless of negligence, regardless if they’re a good company or a bad company. They have a responsibility to their customer,” Bill Marler, her Seattle based attorney told KIMT NewsChannel 3 in an exclusive interview.  Marler contends Taco Johns has a moral responsibility to make sure the product they sell is fit for its use. In this case, he says the tacos they sell should be safe to eat.

Marler is also representing about a dozen other people who were hit by the same E. coli outbreak and has a reputation for spear-heading similar lawsuits. In the early ‘90s he was on the fore-front of the Jack in the Box hamburger lawsuits.  The E. coli strain that was in the Taco Johns lettuce could have killed people — but the attorney says even those like the Johnson’s who were “lucky” and didn’t have to be hospitalized still went through a lot of pain.

“This is not us trying to make a quick buck for a tummy ache. That’s not what this is at all,” he said.

The weather in Albert Lea yesterday was:

The FDA has reported that the location of the farm in Bakersfield where the lettuce was grown is next to a dairy farm that has tested positive for the same genetic strain of E. coli that sickened the folks who ate at Taco Johns.