Taco Bell settlement?

Doug Powell, food safety professor at KSU, passes along this update about Taco Bell litigation in an email update from The Food Safety Network.

Taco Bell may pay millions to settle: Montco man, 19 others drop suits to negotiate over E. coli illnesses

.16.apr.07The Morning Call (Allentown, PA)
Stephen Minnis of Limerick Township and several others who became ill after eating food from the Mexican-food chain have, according to this story, agreed to drop lawsuits while Seattle-based attorney Bill Marler tries to reach financial settlements with the chain's lawyers.Marler, who represents Minnis and 19 others who say Taco Bell's food made them ill, was quoted as saying, "We've got a promise from Taco Bell that it will immediately mediate these cases. I'm going to sit down with them in the next 30 days and try to resolve them. If we can't come to an agreement, we can refile the cases. Every indication I've had from Taco Bell lawyers is that they want to seriously sit down and get these cases resolved ."Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch wouldn't comment on specific legal cases, but was quoted as saying, "Our focus right now is to work with each person who unfortunately became ill as a result of the incident to resolve their individual situation."Marler was further cited as saying that, based on past food poisoning cases he's successfully argued, he believes each victim could receive at least tens of thousands of dollars for medical bills and other damages, adding that Minnis and others "who may have been hospitalized for a short period and did not develop complications can [receive] from $25,000 or $30,000 to half a million dollars depending on the severity of the case. Any case where someone develops [severe health problems] could be worth multiple millions of dollars."

TK: Does Taco Bell go after suppliers next? That kind of liability is staggering. Marler matter of factly says "any case where someone develops [severe health problems] could be worth multiple millions of dollars."