Plaintiffs v Cara Operations Ltd.
Class Action Lawsuit Planned Over E. Coli Outbreak In North Bay
The long-awaited report into the E. coli outbreak in North Bay has freed a Windsor law firm to move ahead with plans to certify a class-action suit.
Sharon Strosberg, a lawyer at Sutts, Strosberg, is handling the $17-million suit against Cara Operations Ltd. which owns the Harvey's restaurant chain.
At least 235 people became sick during an outbreak that originated at the Harvey's restaurant on Algonquin Avenue. Forty-seven of those were confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection.
While the company and most of the employees cooperated with the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit during the investigation, six were issued orders under Ontario's Health Protection and Promotion Act to comply with a medical officer of health request to submit a stool sample and fill out a questionnaire.
The report released found the outbreak in North Bay was likely caused by contaminated raw Spanish onions served at the restaurant. It found inconsistent cleaning of an onion dicer may have contributed, along with steel mesh gloves -- used when onions are chopped on a board -- that can harbour bacteria.
The local restaurant had to change the way it operates, including an end to topping up garnish bowls, throwing away garnish leftovers at the end of the work day, and a procedure of taking apart the dicer to clean it.
It's unknown if the same standards are in place across the chain.
The onion shipment was traced to an unnamed Quebec farm not usually used, although testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency didn't find evidence of contamination at the source.
The report said it's possible only certain areas of the farm or certain bags were contaminated with E. coli.
For more information please contact:
Sharon Strosberg
Sutts, Strosberg
600 Westcourt Place
251 Goyeau Street
Windsor ON N9A 6V4
Windsor: 519.258.9333
Fax: 519.258.9527 | 866.316.5311
