An E. Coli Outbreak At a Chain Restaurant: A Case Study on How Easily Legal Liability Can Spread to a Franchisor

The litigation that resulted from this outbreak was widespread and took years, and tens of millions of dollars, to resolve. It involved not only personal injury lawsuits against the restaurant and its supplier, but also a shareholders' lawsuit and a lawsuit filed against Jack in the Box by its franchisees. And when the last of the lawsuits was finally over, there were still the sales to win back, and the need to repair a much-damaged brand name.

Overshadowed by the Jack in the Box outbreak was another E. Coli outbreak that received little attention at the time. This one, also in the Pacific Northwest, involved four steak-and-salad-bar restaurants in Washington and Oregon, later found to be part of the Sizzler chain. An investigation into the outbreak concluded that cross-contamination from beef within the restaurant kitchens, where meat and multiple salad bar items were prepared, was the cause of the outbreak. (An abstract of the investigation report can be found at http://archinte.amaassn.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/15/2380.) Specifically, the steaks at the restaurants were cut on site from larger pieces of meat and then needle-tenderized and marinated in close proximity to where fruits, vegetables, and other salad bar items were being prepared. As was perhaps inevitable, cross-contamination occurred, and quite a few people were made seriously ill. Fortunately, no one died.