DALLAS — The family of an 11-year-old boy has filed the first lawsuit against Taco Bell Corp. over possible E. coli contamination. The suit, filed Dec. 7 in New York, alleges negligence on the part of the 5,800-unit restaurant chain.
The contamination problems are reportedly tied to green onions served at Taco Bell locations in as many as eight northeastern states. The current controversy surrounding Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell can be expected to produce additional lawsuits, according to Dallas attorney Mary Goodrich, who represents restaurant operators in business and litigation matters.
"Anytime you serve a meal the chance exists that minor or serious illnesses can develop," said Goodrich of Dallas' Vernon Goodrich LLP. "If you serve millions of meals each day, then the risks increase exponentially. Unfortunately, restaurant owners must accept that incidents like this may occur."
According to a news release, most major restaurant chains have indemnity agreements with their food suppliers requiring those companies to accept liability in lawsuits resulting from food-borne contamination. Those agreements typically include a continuing responsibility by food suppliers to maintain insurance to protect them and the restaurant operator in case of a problem. But Goodrich said larger chains usually can better absorb the risk of a lawsuit than a small or independent operator.
"Small operators may not have as much leverage, so their agreements with food distributors covering insurance and indemnity might not be as favorable. A series of lawsuits, such as those Taco Bell will surely face, would likely be 'bet the business' litigation for a small operator," she said.
Goodrich said Taco Bell has managed the situation well thus far.
"They immediately and voluntarily issued recalls, temporarily shut down restaurants, and seem to be working with health departments to control the potential for further outbreaks," Goodrich said. "They haven't accepted responsibility for the situation, but I haven't seen any public finger-pointing. I'm impressed by what appears to be the company's commitment to protecting its customers and believe that will serve them well in the inevitable lawsuits."
