A lawsuit seeking punitive damages was filed today against Topps, the New Jersey beef supplier that recalled nearly a year’s supply of frozen ground beef patties after its products were identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak in September.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Keith and Kristin Goodwin and their 8-year-old son, Lucas, by Seattle-based Marler Clark and Rochester-based Underberg & Kessler.
The lawsuit states that Topps had knowledge of consumer illness tied to its products and a positive E. coli sample from its ground beef patties no later than September 8th, seven days before Kristin and Lucas Goodwin ate Topps hamburgers.
Kristin was released from the hospital on September 26th, but Lucas developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and remained hospitalized for eight days. While they were hospitalized, Topps recalled 332,000 pounds of ground beef products. The company later expanded the recall to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef.