A lawyer representing a man from Florida is now filing a class action lawsuit against McDonald's after an E. coli outbreak.
"This is a nationwide, coast-to-coast impact. Really, really sad stuff," said attorney Roy Willey. "I can tell you that more personal injury cases have been filed. Even since we set up this interview, they're being filed every day. "
The outbreak in October forced the fast food chain to temporarily pull the Quarter Pounder from its menu nationwide.
The CDC said more than 100 cases of E. coli were reported in 14 states, with one death and four people reporting life-threatening diseases.
In the class-action suit against McDonald's, Willey claims one of his clients, William Kraft of Davie, FL., experienced many of the symptoms associated with E. coli infection after purchasing a Quarter Pounder.
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The suit seeks damages exceeding $5 million for customers across the country, saying that McDonald's breached its duty to disclose a risk of contamination.
"These people would not have bought Quarter Pounders had they known that there was a risk that they might be contaminated with E. coli," said Willey.
The outbreak is just one of several high-profile cases prompting concern in recent months across the country, from tainted carrots to Boar's Head meat contaminated with listeria.
Experts say consumers shouldn't panic—food-borne illnesses aren't uncommon.
"The problem that we run into is with produce, like the raw carrots and onions. Those are consumed raw, and there's not a lot we can do other than trust the folks growing, packaging and distributing these things," said University of Florida's Dr. Keith Schneider.
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McDonald's hasn't commented on any of the recent legal suits and vows its full cooperation to regain trust. The CDC also ended its investigation of the outbreak on Dec. 3.
"The only way to affect change in a corporation is to affect their checkbook. And so when you want a corporation to do something, you have to affect their checkbook. Otherwise, they will not change," says Willey.
There is also a class-action lawsuit against the supplier of those tainted onions, Taylor Fresh Foods, AKA Taylor Farms.
This story was originally published by Andrew Kinsey at Scripps News Tampa.
