Simon & Luke Files First Nebraska Cyclospora Lawsuit Against Olive Garden

LINCOLN, Neb., Aug. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Houston-based food safety law firm of Simon & Luke, along with co-counsel Miller Grell Law Group, has filed the first lawsuit in Nebraska over a Cyclospora outbreak linked to salad mix produced by Taylor Farms and served at Olive Garden Restaurants.  A copy of the file-stamped lawsuit is available upon request.

The lawsuit was filed in Lancaster County, Nebraska, on behalf of Laurenda and Richard Sanguinetti, a mother and her son, who are residents of Midlothian, Texas.  According to the lawsuit, they both consumed tainted salad served at the Olive Garden restaurant located at 90 Gateway Mall in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Shortly thereafter, both became ill with extreme diarrhea, vomiting, bloating and gas, nausea, fever and chills, dehydration and related headaches, body aches and cramping, loss of appetite, anxiety and dizziness, and weight loss.  Both Laurenda and Richard attempted to self-treat their illnesses initially, thinking they had a virus or the flu.  But when their symptoms did not subside, they both sought medical care at Mansfield Methodist Hospital. 

Richard was first diagnosed with Cyclosporiasis, after his stool test came back positive for the Cyclospora parasite.  Laurenda's test results are still pending, although doctors have already begun treating her for Cyclosporiasis as well.

Richard has already been informed by health officials that he is part of the ongoing nationwide Cyclospora outbreak. The outbreak has been linked to consumption of salads served at Olive Garden restaurants, including those in Nebraska. 

Both Laurenda and Richard are still recovering from their illnesses, and will require ongoing monitoring of their conditions. 

Richard and Laurenda are just two of over 514 victims in 17 states who have been recently sickened with Cyclosporiasis according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/investigation-2013.html

Nebraska has reported 79 confirmed illnesses related to the tainted salad.

According to the CDC website, Cyclospora is a parasite that is commonly spread by ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces.   http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/gen_info/faqs.html

Food Safety Lawyer Ron Simon Issues Statement

Ron Simon, counsel for the Sanguinetti family and numerous other victims, issued the following statement this morning: "Our clients expected Olive Garden and Taylor Farms to sell food free of human or animal feces.  Through these lawsuits, we will find out how and why this salad became tainted, so we can make sure that it never happens again."

Mr. Simon represents dozens of Cyclospora victims nationwide in this outbreak, and anticipates filing several additional lawsuits in the coming days.

About Ron Simon

Ron Simon's groundbreaking work on behalf of victims in several recent national food borne illness outbreaks (Townsend Farms Organic Berries, Peter Pan peanut butter, Castleberry's chili, Nestle cookie dough, Peanut Corporation of America Peanut products, JBS Swift beef, Daniele salami, Subway sandwiches, Wright County Egg eggs, Agromod papayas, and Moon Marine sushi, to name a few) have been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and virtually all other major television networks and print media.   He has represented over 5000 victims of food-borne outbreaks in the past five years alone, and has collected over $550,000,000 for his clients. 

Mr. Simon regularly publishes articles about food safety and litigation at www.myfoodpoisoninglawyer.com which are read by viewers in over 180 countries.

For media inquiries or more information on this outbreak and ongoing litigation, please contact Ron Simon directly at (713) 819-8116 or [email protected] or Tony Coveny at (713) 306-3880 or [email protected]

SOURCE Simon & Luke LLP