Restaurant industry should require Hepatitis A vaccinations for all foodservice workers
By William Marler
April 18, 2005
Health officials in Campbell County are working hard to trace the source of a hepatitis A outbreak that has caused eleven confirmed and four suspected cases of in the County. Health officials appear now to be focusing on potentially infected restaurant workers as the source of the outbreak. Knoxville-area restaurants have understandably seen business plummet due to the public's uncertainty about how the hepatitis A virus is being spread.
While restaurant owners have a legitimate concern about losing business during a hepatitis A scare, there is a reasonably inexpensive alternative available to them: vaccinate employees against hepatitis A. In doing so, they will gain consumers' support for protecting public health, and at the same time prevent those outbreaks caused by an infected worker that could result in costly litigation and further loss of business -- or loss of a business altogether.
Over the last several years, my legal partners and I have called numerous times on the restaurant industry to voluntarily vaccinate employees against hepatitis A to protect public health. The industry argument is the same: there is a high turnover rate among foodservice workers, and shots are costly (about $50). And very few restaurants do it.
Do customers remain loyal? Do they encourage their friends and family to dine at a restaurant that has put their health at risk? If I were a restaurant owner, I wouldn't count on it. Vaccinating employees is one of the most effective ways to prevent hepatitis A outbreaks, and in turn, to protect yourselves from loss of business and costly litigation.
In 2000, an infected food worker at a Carl's Jr. restaurant in Spokane, Washington, was the source of a hepatitis A outbreak. I successfully sued Carl's Jr. on behalf of several individuals who became ill with hepatitis A after eating at the restaurant. Carl's Jr. learned the hard way, but rebounded, and now requires that its employees be vaccinated against hepatitis A. Other outbreaks and other lawsuits have been far too frequent visitors to the restaurant industry.
It makes moral sense to vaccinate employees before a hepatitis A outbreak devastates your customers. Vaccinating employees also makes business sense and seems cheap once it is found that an ill worker has devastated your business.
William Marler is a Seattle trial lawyer specializing in foodborne illness litigation (see http://www.billmarler.com). His law firm, Marler Clark (http://www.marlerclark.com), is presently involved in Chi Chi's hepatitis A litigation, and has filed class-action lawsuits against Friendly's and Quizno's, two Boston-area restaurants that were implicated in potential hepatitis A outbreaks. He may be reached at 206-346-1888 during the day and at 206-794-5043 in the evening. He may also be reached by mail at 701 5th Avenue, Suite 6600, Seattle, WA 98104, by fax at 206-346-1898, or by email at bmarler@marlerclark.com.
