By JOE MANDAK
Associated Press Writer
August 2, 2004, 5:24 PM EDT
PITTSBURGH — Chi-Chi’s is suing food wholesalers in an effort to get them to help pay for scores of hepatitis A-related lawsuits as it continues to settle its own lawsuits.
The Mexican restaurant chain has settled 134 of the more than 300 lawsuits filed by people sickened after eating at a Pennsylvania restaurant last fall, said Chi-Chi’s attorney David Ernst. The outbreak, traced to green onions, sickened 660 people and killed four.
Late last month, Chi-Chi’s, owned by Irvine, Calif. based Prandium Inc., filed suit against three suppliers — Castellini Co. of Wilder, Ky.; Sysco Corp. of Houston; and one of Sysco’s subsidiaries, Sygma Network Inc. of Lakewood, Colo.
“We have tried for months to get those companies to voluntarily step up to the plate and help the victims. They’re refusing to do so and we’re continuing to do so … so we’ve had to sue them,” Ernst said Monday.
Some of victims required liver transplants, though none of the cases Chi-Chi’s settled involved deaths or critical injuries.Continue Reading Chi-Chi’s Sues Suppliers Over Hepatitis A