A second lawsuit has been filed against the Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant at the Markets at Town Center, part of the fallout from a widespread food contamination outbreak.
“[The Centers for Disease Control] immediately found that these groups of people had eaten at a few common restaurants, Cooper’s Hawk being one of them,” attorney Ron Simon told First Coast News on Monday.
Ron Simon & Associates, a Houston-based law firm that specializes in litigating food contamination cases, is representing the plaintiff in this latest local case, a man who Simon says ate at the local Cooper’s Hawk eatery in June.
“They found basil,” he said, to be the culprit food item.
The CDC has reported at least 132 cases in 11 states since the outbreak began. Simon says the CDC and Mexican-based produce grower Siga Logistics have enacted recalls. The lawsuit names Cooper’s Hawk, Siga and “The Garden Wholesale,” doing business as “The Garden Produce” as defendants.
Simon says all three entities are targeted because of a legal concept called “strict liability.”
“Even if they don’t know it’s contaminated, they’re 100 percent responsible, anybody, along the chain of commerce,” he explained. “And so, in this case, we’ve sued the restaurant, the distributor and the producer, all of which are fully responsible.”
Simon detailed the specific disease agent as cyclospora, which he said causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, extreme fatigue, pain and cramping, among other symptoms. He added that some of his clients in previous outbreaks suffered acute symptoms as long as 10 months when not properly treated with an antibiotic.
He also cautioned that Cooper’s Hawk is only one of several Jacksonville eateries and vendors that likely used the tainted basil, but that because the CDC hasn’t specified the others yet, they can’t be named publicly. He estimated that despite the recalls, only about half of resultant cases have surfaced so far nationwide.
Cooper’s Hawk issued the following statement to First Coast News on Monday night, urging that people with questions call the phone number below:
“Cooper’s Hawk continues to work closely with the Health Department to follow all necessary protocols while upholding our commitment to the highest health and food safety standards in our restaurants. 32 other states have also reported increases the number of cyclosporiasis cases. The FDA has announced that one of the multistate outbreaks has been linked to fresh basil imported from Siga Logistics de RL de CV of Morelos, Mexico. The investigation is still on-going. Cooper’s Hawk is also encouraging guests and the public who may have questions or concerns to reach out to our food safety/customer care line at 844-944-1444. We are addressing out of pocket expenses, testing, etc. with guests that may have been ill regardless if you have representation. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our Guest, our Staff, and our Community.”