Press Release - Virginia Court Approves $12,000,000 Settlement of Salmonella Peanut Butter claims

Virginia Federal Judge Norman Moon today approved the settlement and distribution of $12,000,000 to 122 victims of a nationwide salmonella peanut butter outbreak.  Each of the victims had contracted salmonella poisoning in 2008-2009 after consuming products containing peanut paste manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). The order brings and end to 18 months of salmonella litigation against PCA.

PCA, based in Lynchburg, Virginia, declared bankruptcy last year.

Most of the victims had contracted Salmonella Typhimurium after consuming Austin or Keebler brand peanut butter crackers manufactured by The Kellogg Company.

National food safety lawyer Ron Simon of Houston based law firm Simon & Luke, who represented most of the victims in the outbreak, spoke about the settlement

“My clients are very pleased to get closure on this tragic episode in their lives.  It is a great day for them. 

We must make sure that other peanut companies take notice and not make the same mistakes, or we’ll be right back here again.”

The food poisoning lawyers at Simon & Luke have represented over 2000 victims of poisoning in the past three years alone, recovering over $400,000,000 for their clients.  They publish daily articles on food poisoning and litigation at www.myfoodpoisoninglawyer.comand are frequently asked for commentary on food safety and outbreaks.  They are currently involved in the largest salmonella outbreak in US history - that tied to salmonella contaminated eggs manufactured by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa.

Mr. Simon can be reached toll-free at 1-888-335-4901 or ron@simonluke.com

He’s already hired a team of criminal defense lawyers.

The FDA - and now FBI - are crawling all over his Iowa egg farms right now.  Several environmental samples taken from the farms (and the farms’ feed mill) have already tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis that has sickened so many people in the past 3 months.

The inspection reports recently released by the FDA show a pattern of disregard for the health and safety of customers, workers, and the chickens themselves.  Live mice, wild birds, 8 foot tall manure piles, rodent burrows, bird feces in the feed mill, un-caged hens, dirty “dead hen” trucks, and “live and dead flies too numerous to count” are just some of the findings so far.

But what is even more troublesome is that this is not the first time DeCoster has had run-ins with the law.  A review of his prior history reveals a “habitual violator” that should not have been allowed to produce eggs in the first place.

Prior Health and Safety Violations - Over $15,000,000 Worth of Them

As first documented in an excellent piece by Alec McGinnis of the Wall Street Journal, DeCoster and his companies have paid over $15,800,000 in fines and settlements in the last 11 years alone:

• 1996 - DeCoster is fined $3,600,000 for health and safety violations at his family’s egg farm in Turner.  Labor Secretary Robert Reich remarked that the farm was “as dangerous and oppressive as any sweatshop we have seen”  where workers were forced to handle manure and dead chickens with their bare hands and live in filthy trailers.
• 1999 - His company paid $5,000,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit involving unpaid overtime for 3,000 workers.
• 2001 - Iowa Supreme Court finds that DeCoster was a “repeat violator” of state environmental laws.  The family was forbidden to expand its hog-farming interests in the state.
• 2001 - DeCoster Farms of Iowa pays $1,500,000 to settle an EEOC complaint that the company had subjected 11 undocumented female workers from Mexico to a “sexually hostile work environment,” including sexual assault and rape by supervisors.
• 2002 - OSHA fines the family’s Maine Contract Farming branch $345,810 for an array of violations.
• 2002 - DeCoster Egg Farms of Maine pays $3,200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by workers alleging discrimination in housing and working conditions.
• 2003 - DeCoster pays the US government $2,100,000 .as part of a plea agreement after federal agents found more than 100 undocumented workers at his Iowa egg farms.  It was the largest penalty ever against an Iowa employer.
• 2006 - Federal agents find 30 workers suspected illegal immigrants at a DeCoster farm in Iowa.
• 2007 - Raids at DeCoster Iowa farms uncovered 51 suspected undocumented workers.
• 2006 - Ohio’s Department of Agriculture revokes the permits of Ohio Fresh Eggs because its new co-owners, including Hillandale founder Orland Bethel, had failed to disclose that DeCoster had put up $126 million for the purchase, far more than their $10,000, and was heavily involved in managing the company. By playing down DeCoster’s role, the owners had avoided a background check into DeCoster’s “habitual violator” status in Iowa.  The permits are later reinstated.
• 2008 - OSHA cites DeCoster’s Maine Contract Farming for worker violations, including forcing workers to retrieve eggs from inside a building that had collapsed under ice and snow.
• 2010 - The DeCoster family agrees to pay a $34,675 fine stemming from allegations of animal cruelty against hens in its 5 million-bird Maine facility.  Hens were documented suffocating in garbage cans, twirled by their necks, kicked into manure pits to drown, and hanging by their feet over conveyor belts.

In the wake of the largest salmonella outbreak in US history, will Congress step up and take action that prevents this guy from poisoning us again?

My law firm any my clients are working on the problem.  Anyone want to help?

Call us toll free at 1-888-335-4901.

You can view the reports on the FDA website by clicking here - but below is a brief summary of the FDA’s findings.

They are not pretty.

Quality Egg LLC d/b/a Wright County Egg - FDA Findings

• Chicken manure piles 4 to 8 feet high in the chicken houses (you must be kidding, right?)
• Live wild birds (non-chickens) flying above chicken cages in hen houses
• Rodent burrows along the baseboards of the chicken houses
• Dark liquid manure seeping through the concrete foundation
• Standing water 3 inches deep at he southeast corner of the manure pit
• Employees working within houses not wearing protective clothing
• Un-caged (loose) chickens walking through manure piles to access egg laying areas
• 31 live mice observed inside the egg laying houses
• “Live and dead flies too numerous to count” observed inside the egg laying houses
• No documentation of washing and disinfecting the “dead hen” trucks and manure equipment
• No documentation of washing and disinfection of the chicken trailers
• 3 environmental samples tested positive for Salmonella Enteritidis

Quality Egg LLC Feed Mill - FDA Findings

• Live wild birds (non-chickens) roosting and flying inside the storage and milling facility
• Bird feces on the feed sensors inside the mill
• 3 environmental samples tested positive for Salmonella Enteritidis

Hillandale Farms - FDA Findings

• 65 unsealed rodent holes in the walls of the henhouses
• Standing water 3/4″ deep on the floor next to the manure pit at the “foot bath” (nasty)
• Liquid manure leaking onto the east section of the first floor
• Liquid manure “streaming out” of a six inch gap of the east door of the manure pit
• 49 un-caged chickens tracking manure into the upper levels of the henhouses
• An environmental sample tested positive for Salmonella Enteritidis

Live rodents, manure piles, wild birds, rodent burrows, un-caged hens, dirty “dead hen trucks”, bird feces, “live and dead flies too numerous to count” - is this acceptable in 2010 in the United States?

Seriously.  Somebody needs to go to jail for this.

The Colorado Department of Health and US Centers for Disease Control have now determined that the eggs used in the exotic dish were produced by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms - the Iowa egg farms that have been linked to the nationwide outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis from contaminated eggs that has sickened over 1500 people nationwide.

Public health officials have now reported that at least 28 people became ill with salmonella poisoning after eating at The Fort Restaurant during the week of July 10-16, 2010.

A previous in-depth report on the Colorado salmonella outbreak can be found here.

Simon & Luke Can Help

If you became ill after eating at the Fort Restaurant between July 10 and 16, and were contacted by local health authorities, then you are one of the 28 cases identified by the Jefferson County Health Department.  If so, you are entitled to significant compensation for your illness - including payment for all of your medical bills, lost wages, and suffering you endured - whether or not you sought medical treatment.

The Salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke are currently investigating this salmonella egg outbreak.  We have represented over 2000 victims of salmonella across the United States, including numerous Colorado residents, filing hundreds of salmonella lawsuits and recovering millions of dollars in salmonella settlements for our clients.

We have already been called upon by NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN, along with dozens of print media outlets, to provide commentary and insight into the salmonella egg outbreak, its source, and measures that can be taken to make our egg supply and food system safer for all.

Call us toll free at 1-888-335-4901 or contact us by email at ron@simonluke.com - we are happy to answer your questions free of charge.

The DSHS and local health departments are collaborating with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Food and Drug Administration and public health officials in many states to investigate an increase of over 1500 Salmonella Enteritidis infections in several states.  A large number of these illnesses have been definitively linked to eggs produced by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms.

Since mid-May there have been more than 165 Salmonella Enteritidis infections in Texas, scattered across more than 40 counties throughout the state.  A traceback investigation is ongoing to determine if these illnesses are linked to the consumption of contaminated eggs.

Simon & Luke Can Help

If you tested positive for Salmonella after eating eggs, then you are likely related to this outbreak.  If so, you are entitled to significant compensation for your illness - including payment for all of your medical bills, lost wages, and suffering you endured.

The Salmonella lawyers at the Houston, Texas-based firm of Simon & Luke are currently investigating this salmonella egg outbreak.  We have represented over 2000 victims of salmonella across the United States, filing hundreds of salmonella lawsuits (including the first Texas salmonella egg lawsuit) and recovering millions of dollars in salmonella settlements for our clients.  Call us toll free at 1-888-335-4901 or contact us by email at ron@simonluke.com - we are happy to answer your questions free of charge.

The settlement will pay for all past and future medical care for the child, along with a substantial amount of money for the pain and suffering he endured during his illness.

“The parents are pleased with the outcome of this salmonella litigation.  They will never have to worry about medical care for their child again.  The settlement will also pay for his entire college education, which the judge wanted for this child.  They are very glad to have this whole ordeal behind them” said lead lawyer Ron Simon, who represented the family.

Simon & Luke Can Help

The salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke have represented over 2000 victims of salmonella poisoning across the United States, filing hundreds of Salmonella lawsuits and recovering millions of dollars in salmonella settlements for our clients.  Call us toll free at 1-888-335-4901 or contact us by email at ron@simonluke.com - we are happy to answer your questions free of charge.

The claim was filed today on behalf of Robert Hussey, a 19-year old college student who contracted Salmonella Hvittingfoss after eating a sandwich at the Subway restaurant located at 610 East Daniel in Champaign, Illinois in early May.

Subsequent investigations by the Illinois Department of Health confirmed that Mr. Hussey was one of 103 confirmed Salmonella Hvittingfoss cases tied to contaminated food at Illinois Subway restaurants.  Mr. Hussey incurred $10000 in medical bills and lost wages before his illness subsided.

Of the 97 confirmed cases, at least 25 victims were hospitalized.  Victims reported eating at Illinois Subway restaurants between May 5 and June 18, 2010.  The ages of the victims range in age from 2 to 79 years old.

The victims reside in 28 Illinois counties, including Bureau, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Coles, DeKalb, DeWitt, Ford, Fulton, Henry, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Macon, Marshall, McLean, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Rock Island, Sangamon, Schuyler, Shelby, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, Will and Winnebago.  All ate food from one of the following 46 Subway restaurants statewide:

1. Princeton - 213 S Main
2. Beardstown - 91 Plaza Drive
3. Champaign - 2610 N Prospect Ave
4. Champaign - 610 E Daniel
5. Champaign - 1101 N. Mattis Ave
6. Pana - 200 S Poplar
7. Taylorville - 324 N Webster
8. Taylorville - Walmart, 1175 E 1500 N Road
9. Mattoon - 1100 Lakeland Blvd
10. Mattoon - Circle K Dewitt St
11. DeKalb - NIU, 340 Carroll Ave
12. Clinton - 511 E Van Buren St
13. Paxton - 1 Centennial Dr.
14. Farmington - 17 E Fort St
15. Geneseo - 1325 South Oakwood Ave
16. Abingdon - 407 N Monroe St
17. Ottawa - 1118 Columbus St
18. Ottawa - 4105 Columbus St
19. Streator - 2 North Point Plaza
20. Fairbury - 405 W Oak St
21. Decatur - 145 E Pershing Rd
22. Decatur - 2300 N Edwards
23. Decatur - 4625 E Maryland
24. Mount Zion - 1580 Hwy 121
25. Henry - 1044 Western Ave
26. Lacon - 1405 5th St
27. Le Roy - 200 E Cedar
28. Sullivan - 720 West Jackson
29. Davis Junction - 5655 N Junction Way
30. Rochelle - 890 E Hwy 38
31. Rochelle - North 7th Street
32. Peoria - 1200 W Main
33. East Moline - 681 Avenue of the Cities
34. Chatham - 317 N Main
35. Rochester - Rt 29 & State St
36. Springfield - 425 S Grand St
37. Rushville - 122 W Lafayette
38. Shelbyville - 1218 W Main St
39. Morton - Walmart, 603 W Jackson
40. Georgetown - 105 N Main
41. Monmouth - 825 N Main
42. Frankfort - 19730 S Harlem Ave
43. Loves Park - 6200 N 2nd St
44. Machesney Park - 10223 N 2nd St
45. Roscoe - 5065 Edgemere Ct
46. South Beloit - 356 Prairie Hill Rd

Simon & Luke Can Help

If you tested positive for Salmonella Hvittingfoss after eating at one of the aforementioned Subway restaurants, you are entitled to significant compensation for your illness - including payment for all of your medical bills, lost wages, and suffering you endured.

The Salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke are currently investigating this Salmonella outbreak.  We currently represent several victims who have claims against Subway, and we have been contacted by several other lawyers representing victims who want our help in prosecuting the cases and in filing Salmonella Hvittingfoss lawsuits against Subway.

We have represented over 2000 victims of food poisoning across the United States, filing hundreds of Salmonella lawsuits and recovering millions of dollars in salmonella settlements for our clients.  Call us toll free at 1-888-335-4901 or contact us by email at ron@simonluke.com - we are happy to answer your questions free of charge.

Of the South Dakota salmonella cases, 6 occurred in June and 2 in July.  Two of the victims were hospitalized.

Simon & Luke already represents two of the victims from South Dakota, and is investigating other illnesses in the state.

Sparboe Farms is voluntarily recalling shell eggs produced by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms which were packaged by Sparboe Farms, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Eggs affected were distributed to grocery stores and foodservice companies in the following states and added to the Egg Recall list for these states – Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota.

The large, white eggs were packaged under the following brand names: Albertson, Sparboe Farms, Liborio Market, Shamrock Foods and Glenview Farms.

The Minnesota State health department has linked a cluster of 7 illnesses to the national egg recall.

Spokesman Doug Schultz says seven Salmonella Enteritidis illnesses were reported May 20 as part of an outbreak at a Bemidji restaurant called Mi Rancho.  The illnesses were traced to shell eggs from Hillandale Farms of Iowa.

So far, more than 1500 people have been sickened in the salmonella outbreak nationwide.

Schultz says he believes all seven of the people whose illnesses were reported today have recovered.  They bring to 14 the number of salmonella illnesses reported in Minnesota linked to three restaurants in the state.

One of the victims in the Bemidji Mi Rancho outbreak - Robin Shaffer - spoke publicly about her illness.

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever been through,” she said. Shaffer said her bout with salmonella poisoning was much like the flu - only “times ten.”  She was ill for three weeks. “I had no energy. The pain.  You’d try to keep something in you and it just comes out.  You’re in the bathroom,” she explained.

Shaffer became sick after eating an enchilada / bean burrito / chile relleno combo at Mi Rancho on May 8.  She saw doctors at Mayo Clinic in Rochester three days later, after the symptoms would not subside.