Class-Action Lawsuit Is Filed Over E. Coli-Tainted Lettuce

A lawyer Tuesday filed a class-action lawsuit against a Sherman Oaks-based restaurant chain alleging that it served contaminated lettuce resulting in dozens of E. coli infections in San Diego and Orange counties over the last three weeks.

The suit, filed in San Diego by attorney Patrick N. Keegan, names Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc., which operates Pat and Oscar’s restaurants in Carlsbad, San Diego, El Cajon, Irvine, Orange and Buena Park. Also named are Gold Coast Produce, a company with offices in Oxnard and Port Hueneme that allegedly packaged the bad lettuce, and Family Tree Produce of Anaheim, which allegedly distributed it.

The defendants “failed to adequately clean, prepare and test their salad food products for safety,” thereby exposing consumers to bacteria, the suit says.

None of the defendants could be reached for comment.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of what Keegan describes as the “hundreds, maybe thousands” of diners who ordered salads at the restaurants since Sept. 20, seeks refunds for the meals, unspecified damages for those who got sick and assurances that new procedures are in place to prevent it from happening again.

As of late last week, health officials in the two counties had reported 28 confirmed or suspected cases of E. coli infection among people who had eaten salad at Pat and Oscar’s restaurants or at two San Diego County school districts from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4. In no instance was the disease -- marked by abdominal cramping, bloody diarrhea, vomiting and nausea -- life-threatening, they said.

Keegan says he was contacted regarding the outbreak by a San Diego woman who spent two days in a hospital being treated for the symptoms.