Kriefal and Lesak et al. v. Excel Corp.
This important case arose from a large outbreak among customers of two Milwaukee-area Sizzler restaurants caused by consumption of buffet food items that had been cross-contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 that is alleged to have originated from sirloin tri-tips purchased by the restaurants from Excel, one of the defendants in the case.
Excel argued that the persons injured in the outbreak had no right to sue because, according to Excel, federal law allowed it to sell intact cuts of meat contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, and that law preempted any state law that would allow an injured person to recover damages. The trial court agreed with this argument and dismissed the legal claims against Excel. On behalf of our clients, the Marler Clark attorneys appealed and won. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision, ruling that “federal preemption does not close the doors of Wisconsin’s courts to the claims against Excel.”
Excel appealed the case further, first to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court. In both instances, however, Marler Clark attorneys were able to have the Court of Appeals decision upheld so that the case could proceed to trial.
665 N.W.2d 417 (WI App 2003) available at http://wislaw.org/res/capp/2003/02-1939.htm
More about Kriefal and Lesak et al. v. Excel Corp. is available in the Case News section of the site.