How to Sue a Restaurant for Food Poisoning

After a recent meal out, you didn’t feel all that great. In fact, you felt bad enough to seek medical attention. The tests confirmed what you suspected: a case of food poisoning. Now you wonder if it’s possible to learn how to sue a restaurant for food poisoning and recoup some of the loss that you’ve sustained. Here are some basics that will help with the process. 

Secure Legal Counsel

While you can pursue the issue on your own, that’s not the most practical approach. Dealing with this type of issue requires understanding the laws that apply and how they could work to your advantage. A lawyer is in a better position to make that kind of assessment. 

Choose a lawyer who is known to handle personal injury cases, including events involving food poisoning. It won’t take long to evaluate the merits of your situation and determine if you have grounds to seek compensation. 

Confirmed Diagnosis by a Medical Professional

In order to pursue the case, you will need confirmation of a diagnosis by a medical professional. This could be the emergency room doctor who treated you the night of the event, or it could be the family physician who you were able to call and see within hours of the issue arising. 

Make sure that your legal counsel has full access to all medical records pertaining to the diagnosis and the subsequent treatment. A court is much more likely to consider your claim if there’s information provided by experts. 

Provide Evidence of Negligence

Part of knowing how to sue a restaurant for food poisoning understands that it’s necessary to prove negligence on the part of the staff. In many cases, this may be more related to some sort of lack of action than some deliberate action. For example, meat may be stored in an area that is not sufficiently cool. At other times, items that must be refrigerated between uses were left at room temperature for too long. 

This will involve finding out more about the conditions in the kitchen. If past health inspections indicate infractions that made food unsafe for consumption, that could strengthen your case. A lawyer will know how to obtain that information. If there were other patrons who reported getting sick after eating there the same evening, that could also be important to your claim. 

Determine the Compensation to Seek

Your lawyer will be aware of what sort of compensation to seek. This is partly based on any expenses that resulted from the food poisoning. For example, any co-pays or deductibles that you have to pay in order to receive medical treatment would qualify. In the event you have to be out of work for a few days, any loss of income incurred could also be included. Some compensation for emotional distress, general pain and suffering, and even what’s known as a loss of consortium may be included in the compensation. 

Your lawyer will consider these and other factors when determining what type of compensation to seek. The goal is to arrive at a figure that is equitable and can be used in an attempt to negotiate a settlement. It’s also an amount that is designed to cover all legal expenses in the event that the case does go to court. 

Never feel as if there is nothing you can do after a case of food poisoning. Find a lawyer and explore what can be done. While compensation won’t completely make up for the experience, it will at least make it easier to deal with what came after.