After three years and six months, the civil litigation on behalf of sixty-six families of the injured and the dead has been resolved against all remaining defendants. The settlement was finalized late last week. The settlement amount is confidential and the parties agreed to the following statement:
“The matter was resolved by mutual agreement of the parties.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),a total of 147 persons infected with any of the five outbreak-associated subtypes of Listeria monocytogenes were reported to CDC from 28 states. The number of infected persons identified in each state was as follows: Alabama (1), Arkansas (1), California (4), Colorado (40), Idaho (2), Illinois (4), Indiana (3), Iowa (1), Kansas (11), Louisiana (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (7), Montana (2), Nebraska (6), Nevada (1), New Mexico (15), New York (2), North Dakota (2), Oklahoma (12), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Texas (18), Utah (1), Virginia (1), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (2), and Wyoming (4). Thirty-three outbreak-associated deaths were reported: Colorado (9), Indiana (1), Kansas (3), Louisiana (2), Maryland (1), Missouri (3), Montana (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (5), New York (2), Oklahoma (1), Texas (2), and Wyoming (2). Among persons who died, ages ranged from 48 to 96 years, with a median age of 81 years. In addition, one woman pregnant at the time of illness had a miscarriage. Ten deaths not attributed to listeriosis occurred among persons who had been infected with an outbreak-associated subtype.
Marler Clark represented the families of 46 victims of the 2011 Listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupe grown by Jensen Farms. The law firm pursued compensation from Jensen Farms, the firms that audited the farm’s food safety practices, the companies that distributed the Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes and the retailers that sold the unsafe food.
Jensen Farms declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on May 25, 2012. All Marler Clark clients’ claims with Jensen Farms were resolved through the bankruptcy proceedings; however, claims against other parties were finally resolved in the last weeks. The Jensen brothers were criminally charged.
Marler Clark filed lawsuits on behalf of all 46 families. Those lawsuits were brought against multiple defendants in courts in 12 states. They were filed on behalf of the families of 29 people who died and 17 people who survived.
The total past medical expenses to date were in excess of $15,000,000.
Listeria: Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of Listeria outbreaks. The Listeria lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Listeria and other foodborne illness outbreaks 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 Listeria lawyers have litigated Listeria cases stemming from outbreaks traced to a variety of foods, such as caramel apples, cantaloupe, cheese, celery and milk.