JoNel Aleccia, Seattle Times health reporter, reported yesterday that the family of a 4-year-old Issaquah girl hospitalized with E. coli food poisoning this past summer is suing the operators of a farmers-market food truck tied to her illness and a dozen others.
Elizabeth Buder was among 13 people sickened in August and September after eating food from the Los Chilangos food truck operated by Menendez Brothers, LLC of Bellevue. The firm, which operates two food trucks that serve seven farmers markets in King and Snohomish counties, was shuttered temporarily in late August by officials at Public Health — Seattle & King County after an investigation into the outbreak.
The child’s parents, James and Deanna Buder, filed a complaint this month in King County Superior Court.
It states that the child, known as “Scout,” shared food with her parents from a Los Chilangos truck on Aug. 8 at the Issaquah Farmer’s Market. She fell ill days later and was eventually admitted to Seattle Children’s, where doctors confirmed an E. coli 0157: H7 infection, according to the complaint prepared by Marler Clark, a Seattle firm that specializes in food-safety cases.
The girl developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a life-threatening complication of E. coli poisoning, and kidney failure. She was hospitalized for three weeks and will require ongoing monitoring and care. She was only recently cleared to return to school.
Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of E. coli outbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $600 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation. Our E. coli lawyers have litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products. The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s. We have proudly represented such victims as Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith and Linda Rivera.