A Milan, Ill., McDonald's customer has filed a class action lawsuit against the local McDonald's and the franchise owner, Kevin Murphy, for their connection to a hepatitis A outbreak in northwestern Illinois, according to the Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa).
Seattle-based foodborne illness law firm Marler Clark and the Illinois firm of Foote, Meyers, Mielke & Flowers LLC have filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiff, Cody Patterson, and all others who were required to receive immume globulin shots after being exposed to the hepatitis A virus at the Milan McDonald's.
A spokesperson for Marler Clark said the combined plaintiffs have to total $50,000 in order to appear in front of the court. About 50 people are part of the suit, and that number is growing.
This follows reports of an investigation into several Milan area businesses regarding the gap in time between diagnosis and reporting of the illness to the county health department, including that of a McDonald's employee who was diagnosed in June. Two employees of the Milan McDonald's are among the 19 people diagnosed with hepatitis A in the area.
In a statement to the Quad-City Times, Murphy said:
"Regarding this matter, the Rock Island County Health Department has repeatedly stated that they have not confirmed the source of the outbreak. In fact, they believe, based on the number of confirmed cases, that, most likely, there are multiple sources. When I was notified about this matter by the Rock Island County Health Department on July 13, I took immediate action to address their concerns. My restaurant was temporarily closed at the direction of the Rock Island County Health Department. My restaurant re-opened on Saturday, July 18."
