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Chipotle Ordered to Pay $25 Million for Causing Customers Foodborne Illnesses

Posted by Dan Kann | Aug 26, 2020 | 0 Comments

Between 2015 and 2018, Chipotle Mexican Grill had issues with their food that caused thousands of people to get sick. According to ABC 7 News, the company “admitted that at least five food safety incidents at various restaurants in the U.S. had taken place between 2015 and 2018.” Some of these incidents occurred at Southern California Chipotle locations in Los Angeles and Simi Valley. 

Apparently, Chipotle failed to make sure that their employees understood and followed food safety rules, which led to customers getting sick. These violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act resulted in more than 1,100 people getting sick. The bad food caused norovirus, which can cause a person to feel really sick and have symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. Because the restaurant violated food safety rules, they were ordered to pay $25 million in fines and the restaurant must create a new comprehensive food safety program. This is the “largest fine ever imposed in a food and safety case.” Even with this criminal fine, Chipotle can also be held responsible for the injuries they caused to their customers. 

When a restaurant causes harm in the form of food poisoning or other sicknesses to its customers, it can be held liable to those customers for their injuries under California personal injury law. To bring a personal injury claim against a restaurant for your food-borne illness related injuries, like norovirus or E. coli,  you will need to prove that the restaurant was negligent. The restaurant has a duty not to serve customers contaminated or harmful food. If they breach that duty, by serving contaminated food, and that food causes a customer to get sick, that customer may have a personal injury claim against them.

In this case, Chipotle had a duty not to serve their customers contaminated food, they breached that duty when they sold customers food that was contaminated due to their food safety violations, and many people got sick. Those customers would have a personal injury claim against Chipotle and with the help of a skilled Los Angeles personal injury attorney, they could get financial compensation for their injuries.

Food poisoning and other food related illnesses, can cause serious infections and result in a sickness that takes a toll on your life. If you get food poisoning, you should get to a doctor and take time to report it to your local health department--you may not be the only one that got sick, like in the Chipotle case. By bringing a personal injury claim, you can get financial recovery for the damage your sickness caused in your life. For example, your illness may have required a hospital visit, caused you to miss work, and caused a lot of pain. These are a few things you can get financial recovery for--medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

If you have suffered injuries caused by food poisoning, or any other personal injury, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Kann California Law Group. These cases can be difficult to prove and we can help with your case investigation and help with bringing your claim so you can get your deserved compensation. We can talk about your case and injuries and answer your questions in a free case consultation--contact us today by calling 888-744-7730 or fill out our confidential online contact form and one of our attorneys will call you right away!

About the Author

Dan Kann

Daniel E. Kann has devoted his entire legal career exclusively to defending individuals facing criminal prosecution in Southern California. Dan fights criminal cases throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Kern, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

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