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McDonald’s just got hit with its first lawsuit regarding an E. coli outbreak that resulted in Quarter Pounders being pulled at 20% of all U.S. McDonald’s locations. But one prominent food safety lawyer believes the first lawsuit related to the E. coli outbreak isn’t the one likely to have a rippling effect on the food industry.
Eric Stelly, a resident of Greeley, Colo., is suing McDonald’s for liability, negligence, and breach of implied warranties, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. Stelly claims that two days after purchasing food from McDonald’s earlier this month, he experienced nausea, cramps, and bloody stools that led him to seek medical care. He tested positive for E. coli. Per the complaint, the Weld County Department of Public Health told him his food poisoning was linked to his McDonald’s meal.
“American consumers should be able to trust that the food they are served is safe from contamination,” Stelly’s attorney Ron Simon told Fortune in an emailed statement. “McDonald’s breached that trust, and will now have to earn it back.”
Stelly is one of about 50 patients sickened with E. coli linked to an outbreak in McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. One person died and ten were hospitalized from the outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration has launched a probe into Taylor Farms, one of McDonald’s suppliers, as the source of the outbreak, and Taylor Farms is recalling batches of yellow onions produced in a Colorado plant following the outbreak. Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC are all pulling onions from certain locations, but the company did not disclose the source of the ingredient. McDonald's announced Friday it would stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms' Colorado Springs plant indefinitely.
The E. coli outbreak represents McDonald’s biggest food safety disaster in more than three decades, according to food safety lawyer Bill Marler, who plans to represent three clients in cases against McDonald’s due to the E. coli outbreak and who has previously represented Taylor Farms. Following the CDC’s announcement of the outbreak Tuesday night, McDonald’s stock plummeted as much as 9%.
Stelly’s lawsuit against McDonald’s is shocking, Marler said, because it attacks a fast-food behemoth with a generally rock-solid reputation among food safety experts. But the lawsuit more likely to make waves in the restaurant industry likely won’t come from an individual seeking personal damages—but rather from two food giants going head-to-head.
“The litigation between the victims and McDonald's and Taylor Farms is going to pale in comparison to the litigation that is going to erupt when McDonald's sues Taylor Farms,” Marler told Fortune. “That's going to be a big deal.”