- May 9, 2016
- Tucker Law
- Personal Injury Lawsuits
Shake Shack Seriously Sickens Hungry Upper East Siders
Shake Shack is well known for two things: its delicious food and its seriously long lines. These days, they’re in danger of adding one more item to the negative column: last month, nearly a dozen people reported feeling sick after dining at Shake Shack’s Upper East Side location. Was it food poisoning, or something more nefarious? 311 received 11 complaints of food poisoning, a quantity far out of line with the average food poisoning-related complaints registered against other restaurants, including other Shake Shack locations. So, there’s either something amiss with the ingredients on 86th and Lexington, or some disgruntled employee is providing some slanderous anecdotes to the authorities.
However, if out of hundreds of thousands of customers only eleven reported to have gotten sick, Shake Shack isn’t so worried. The establishment has maintained an “A” grade across their venues and is confident that the incidences of food poisoning are anomalies.
But what if this weren’t the case? What if a bar or restaurant has, while looking to cut corners, served you unsafe food or drink? What if a restaurant has insufficiently trained their workers, not wanting to spend the time or money on food safety courses? What if an inexperienced managerial staff, not knowing any better, allowed low grade food and drink to be provided for their guests? Or, what if something more malicious was in play? What if expired food was fobbed off as fresh by money-hungry restaurateurs in order to scrimp on stock costs?
If malice or negligence has led to you getting seriously sick, or has resulted in wrongful death, it may be within your rights to seek legal action. Read on to find out what constitutes “criminally negligent” when it comes to food contamination.
Call Food Poisoning Experts
In circumstances of food contamination, the more information available, the better your chances of a favorable outcome will be. As is the case for most legal matters, gathering data and supporting evidence is crucial for securing a win in a court of law.
Here are some steps you can take if you’ve fallen victim to injurious food poisoning:
- Consult a Doctor: The professional opinion of an expert is of paramount importance when mounting a solid foundation for your case. If a doctor can determine that your food-borne sickness was caused by a particular pathogen, it may be easier to find corroborating evidence. As we will see later, determining an “outbreak” will lend credibility to your claim. If you do consult with a doctor or go to a hospital, save all potentially pertinent material, including: medical papers, hospital records and prescription histories. When it comes to documentation of this kind, more is always merrier.
- Determine the Cause: Defining the precise pathogen responsible for your sickness will become useful in court. Pinpointing the root cause of your illness is key. How is this achieved? Through a process called pulsed-field gel electrophorese (PFGE.)
- Strength in Numbers: If more than two people yield matching PFGE patterns, it may be considered an outbreak. When more than two parties submit identical food-borne pathogen claims, the validity of each claim increases. Making strong connections between an individual restaurant and a group of sick patrons will help corroborate the appropriate narrative, and increase the chances for a successful outcome for all involved.
- Save the Evidence: If a meal’s made you sick, you certainly won’t be saving the leftovers for a midnight snack. You may, however, want to hold on to them as evidentiary proof of malfeasance.
- Determine Fault: Accidents happen, and sickness are sometimes unpredictable. However, there are certain practices which shouldn’t be tolerated. Restaurants are highly regulated, and when restaurant owners do not obey the regulations which are put in place to keep diners safe, they deserve to be penalized for their behavior. If a restaurant does not properly manage and oversee their staff, it is possible that a worker could potentially, after using a bathroom and improperly washing afterwards, introduce pathogen into a cooking area. If old or un-fresh food was used as a cost-saving mechanism, then malfeasance could very likely be determined.
There are hundreds are possible scenarios wherein food-borne illness could be contracted, but determining fault and securing compensation must be handled by an experienced law team. At Tucker Lawyers PC, we provide precisely that.
Tucker Lawyers PC
At Tucker Lawyers PC, the wellbeing of our clients means everything to us. If you’ve been made sick, injured, or harmed in any way, we want to fight for your rights in a court of law. Our experienced and compassionate team of personal injury lawyers in Queens are ready and eager to help you earn the compensation you deserve. The restitutions we seek will not only alleviate your medical bills and keep you financially secure as you focus on recovery, but will compensate you for the physical and emotional distress that you have suffered. Don’t wait another day- if you’ve been the victim of wrongdoing, it’s time to make things right. Contact Tucker Lawyers PC today for a free and easy consultation.
Managing Attorney John. J. Tucker, Esq.
John has personally handled thousands of clients who were victims of another’s negligence and fights relentlessly for their rights. John enjoys bringing closure to a client’s matter so that the injured party can move forward with their life. His background enables him to evaluate complex liability related claims and bring resolution to claims in a record time frame. [ Attorney Bio ]