McDonald’s Hepatitis Lawsuit Filed Over Teen Sickened in Illinois Outbreak

Parents of teen hospitalized with hepatitis A have filed a lawsuit alleging that their son was sickened after eating at a northwestern Illinois McDonald’s where two infected workers handled food.

The McDonald’s hepatitis lawsuit is at least the second complaint filed against the fast food restaurant in Milan, Ill., alleging that management knew workers were carrying the disease. At least 22 people in the surrounding area have been diagnosed with hepatitis and nearly 5,000 were vaccinated for exposure while visiting the McDonalds before it was temporarily shut down earlier this month.

According to the complaint, 16 year-old Dillon Mrasak ate at the Milan McDonald’s during the time period when health officials have indicated visitors were exposed to hepatitis A, and he fell ill on July 12. Mrasak was hospitalized for four days and tested positive for hepatitis A.

Last week, a hepatitis exposure class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all customers who ate at the McDonalds and subsequently received preventative treatment for the virus.

Both of the McDonald’s lawsuits name franchise owner Kevin Murphy and the McDonald’s Corporation as defendants. Murphy has maintained that the McDonald’s never knowingly employed workers who were infected, but there have been reports that the restaurant and the health department might have known of infected workers nearly a month before the restaurant was shut down.

Hepatitis A is a potentially serious virus that causes swelling of the liver, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. It can take as long as 20 days before symptoms appear after exposure. Getting a vaccination between the exposure and the appearance of the symptoms can help avoid a full-blown infection.

Trinity Medical Center has taken some of the responsibility for not alerting the proper authorities about the hepatitis A-infected McDonald’s workers. In a press conference on July 24, Vice President of Hospital Operations Kathy Cunningham said the hospital knew of at least four cases of hepatitis A, but failed to timely notify the Rock Island County Health Department.

Cunningham said the hospital failed to report the cases in the required time frame, delaying public health officials’ ability to respond to the outbreak. The hospital is reviewing its process and paper work in the cases to discover how the illnesses were overlooked, and to prevent any similar incidents from occurring in the future.