A St. Louis man is the second person to seek damages from a Missouri grocery chain and an Oklahoma produce distributor after being sickened during an E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
Charles Meyer, 61, ate romaine lettuce and other salad bar items several times from a Schnuck grocery store in Cool Valley, MO, the complaint states. Meyer was infected with E. coli O157:H7 and was treated at Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur for several days.
Meyer has not recovered his previous health since the illness, the lawsuit alleges.
Earlier this month Mary Kozlowski also filed suit against Schnuck and Vaughan Foods, which distributed the lettuce, after she suffered permanent kidney damage from an E. coli infection linked to the grocery chain’s salads.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 60 E. coli illnesses in 10 states are associated with romaine lettuce served at grocery store salad bars, and at universities in Minnesota and Missouri. Through its own investigation, the law firm Marler Clark determined that Vaughan Foods supplied the lettuce to Schnuck Supermarkets.
The plaintiffs are represented by the law firm Aleshire Robb in Missouri and Marler Clark in Seattle, sponsor of Food Safety News.
