McDonald’s sued by consumers in proposed class action over E.coli outbreak

(Reuters) – McDonald’s was sued by consumers on Tuesday in a proposed class action following the E.coli outbreak linked to onions in the fast-food chain’s Quarter Pounders.

Amanda McCray of Chicago and William Michael Kraft of Davie, Florida, said they experienced many symptoms related to an E.coli infection after purchasing Quarter Pounders this month.

Both said they would not have purchased their burgers if McDonald’s had disclosed the risk of contamination, and that they have been harmed by McDonald’s actions.

The lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court seeks unspecified damages, but more than $5 million, for all people in the United States who purchased Quarter Pounders contaminated with E.coli.

McDonald’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The chain is also facing other lawsuits from individuals who said they were also sick.

Last week, McDonald’s halted sales of Quarter Pounder in a fifth of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants after an outbreak that killed at least one person and sickened 75 people.

The Chicago-based company started restoring Quarter Pounders to its menus this week.

After McDonald’s reported quarterly results on Tuesday, CEO Chris Kempczinski apologized to customers for the outbreak. He said on a conference call that the situation appeared to be under control and that he was “confident in the safety of food at McDonald’s.”

The case is McCray et al v. McDonald’s USA LLC, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 24-11102.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Nick Zieminski)