William Marler, a food safety advocate and attorney whose Seattle law firm, Marler Clark, represents victims of food poisoning around the country, called today on Fuego Tortilla Grill to pay the medical bills of all individuals who became ill with Salmonella infections as part of the outbreak. “We know that at least thirty people became ill with Salmonella infections after eating at Fuego Tortilla Grill, and some of them were hospitalized,” Marler said. “It is only right that Fuego Tortilla Grill covers the medical expenses of its customers.”

“The cost of treating victims of Salmonella infections can run in the tens of thousands of dollars, or in a severe case, even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Marler continued. “These families need Fuego Tortilla Grillto do more than promise to cooperate in the investigation into this outbreak. They need to know that Fuego Tortilla Grill intends to fulfill its corporate responsibility to looking out for its customers.”

Marler noted that in other outbreak-situations companies such as Chi-Chi’s, Dole, Jack in the Box, Con Agra, Odwalla, and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products.

BACKGROUND: Marler’s Seattle-based law firm, Marler Clark (www.marlerclark.com) has represented thousands of victims of E. coli, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Listeria, Shigella, Campylobacter, and other foodborne illnesses in over thirty states. Marler comments on foodborne illness outbreaks and litigation at www.marlerblog.com.