KANSAS CITY – Marler Clark, the nation’s leading law firm dedicated to representing victims of food poisoning, has filed a seventh Listeria lawsuit against Colorado-based cantaloupe producer Jensen Farms and Texas-based distributer Frontera produce.
According to a complaint filed in Missouri District Court (#4:11-cv-04280-FJG), 92-year-old Paul Schwarz of Kansas City consumed cantaloupe produced by Jensen Farms multiple times in the month of August. On September 15, he was treated and released from the hospital after experiencing symptoms of Listeria infection, including abdominal pain. His condition worsened, and Mr. Schwarz was readmitted to the hospital on September 19, where he tested positive for Listeria. The complaint alleges that Mr. Schwarz has been informed by health officials that his illness is associated to the multi-state cantaloupe-based Listeria outbreak linked to the defendants. Mr. Schwarz remains in the hospital.
“Mr. Schwarz and his family have undergone a tremendous amount of hardship from what seems to be a few pieces of cantaloupe,” said Listeria lawyer William Marler. “Unfortunately, due to unsanitary practices by Jensen Farms, we’ve seen the Schwarz’s story repeated over one hundred times.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 123 people have been made ill with Listeria as a result of consuming Jensen Farms cantaloupe. At least 25 deaths and one miscarriage have been attributed to the Listeria-contaminated cantaloupe. On October 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a report detailing unsanitary conditions and rampant Listeria contamination inside the Jensen Farms packing facility.
“Companies - large or small, multinational or local - that fail to make food safety a top priority run the risk of poisoning or killing customers, and in this case it was both,” added Marler. “I’m disgusted, but not surprised that despite years of warnings, yet another company put profits before its customers.”
MARLER CLARK is the nation’s leading law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness. The firm’s food poisoning attorneys have unrivaled experience and have secured over $600,000,000 for their clients, including a recent $1.1 million Listeria judgment. For more information or, if you are a member of the media and would like to view a copy of the complaint, contact Cody Moore at 1-206-407-2200 or cmoore@marlerclark.com.