Student sues for E. coli damages
An MSU student who contracted E. coli in September as part of a statewide outbreak is suing Aunt Mid’s Produce Company, the company which the Michigan Department of Community Health said distributed contaminated lettuce throughout the state.
Samantha Steffen, a Lyman Briggs freshman, is represented by Seattle-based food-borne illness law firm Marler Clark. The lawsuit is the first against Aunt Mid’s after 34 Michigan residents, including nine MSU students, became ill last month with E. coli infections.
According to a press release from Marler Clark, Steffen suffered from E. coli-related symptoms, including bloody diarrhea, starting on Sept. 13. Steffen went to the hospital and was treated for severe dehydration.
“The Michigan Health Department has linked these illnesses to lettuce produced by Aunt Mid’s Produce,” Steffen’s attorney Bill Marler said in the statement. “Despite requests that they reveal the source of the tainted lettuce — a pivotal step toward ensuring that there is no additional tainted product in the supply chain — Aunt Mid’s has refused to do so. Food distributors are responsible not only to their direct consumers but also to the food supply system as a whole. By withholding information about a contamination event, Aunt Mid’s Produce is not doing their part to keep food safe for everyone.”
Published on Thursday, October 9, 2008
Comments
lol
10/09/08 @ 10:33pm
lol, they will get so owned in this case. If the rest of students hop on the law suit, Aunt Mid is going to start writing out checks pretty soon.
Peter
10/10/08 @ 9:38am
Bah! Now everyone is going to know Samantha Steffen had bloody diarrhea.
Debbie
10/10/08 @ 12:30pm
Way to go Samantha for clogging up our court system with your litigiousness. Seriously, if you aren’t prepared to run the risk that the food you purchase might be contaminated (which is pretty safe as far as risky behavior goes), you should grow your own food. Unless there is some indication that the contamination was deliberate, I would through this case out soooooo quick. Stop trying to cure the whole in your life by stealing money from company accidents.
PM
10/10/08 @ 1:44pm
“The Michigan Department of Agriculture has completed its testing of Aunt Mid’s iceberg lettuce and packing facility. The MDA has issued its formal report that the State’s tests have likewise found NO E. COLI CONTAMINATION in either Aunt Mid’s iceberg lettuce or its packing facility.”
Good luck getting paid you C. Thanks for wasting everyones time and tax dollars with your nonsense.
Sarah
10/10/08 @ 3:34pm
LOL @ Peter … same thing I was thinking!
Smartest Person
10/10/08 @ 7:33pm
Debbie, I think you meant “throw” and “hole” you ignoramus. If you’re going to comment at least learn the language. And PM, the study was part of the government trying to find the cause of the outbreak. It was unrelated to the lawsuit. No taxpayer money is being used (or wasted) because of the suit. Tool. Why do the dumb always yell the loudest?
jp
10/11/08 @ 3:44pm
lawsuits costs taxpayer’s money. who has to hear the case, decide if it is legit…..a JUDGE….who (gasp) works for the State of Michigan. Judges salary’s are paid by the state, and the state gets funding through tax payers. Smartest person….not so much.
jp
10/11/08 @ 8:04pm
jp don’t be stupid. Salaries are…..salaries- paid in full, not by the number of cases heard. Whether a judge hears 500 or 501 cases…their salary is the same.
This person has every right to have this case heard by a judge or jury. E Coli isn’t the sniffles…it’s a very very dangerous virus.
jp
10/13/08 @ 10:19pm
fake jp….the more cases that are heard, the more judges that have to be hired, the more security, balifs, etc that need to be hired….and tax payers pay the price. the onyl people getting rich off this is the lawyers. E Coli is dangerous…but there are a lot of frivolous lawsuits out there.
I hope that you are summoned for jury duty…it sounds like you probably would be…they usually want unintelligent easy to sway people…you’d be perfect.