Nation’s Restaurant News 09-19-2006 (E. coli Spinach)

Restaurant sues for what it wasted on spinach

GLENVIEW, Ill. (Sept. 19) – Hamilton’s Restaurant here has filed a lawsuit against one of the suspected sources of E.coli-contaminated spinach to recover what the eatery spent on spinach that was thrown away because of the ongoing food-poisoning crisis.

An attorney for the restaurant said he is seeking to have the complaint certified as a national class action suit against the supplier, Natural Selection Foods of San Juan Bautista, Calif.

“We are filing a nationwide class action on behalf of all restaurants and individuals who purchased fresh spinach and had to throw it out,” said Thomas Zimmerman, the attorney representing Hamilton’s owners George Gregousis and Nick Galanis. His initial complaint, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, seeks monetary damages for unused spinach and attorney’s fees and court costs.

Hamilton’s, a 220-seat restaurant open for all three meals, normally uses spinach in salads, sandwiches and omelets, Galanis said.

As of Monday evening, 114 illnesses and one death had been blamed on consumption of E. coli-tainted spinach.