E. coli suit settled for $13.5 million

MILWAUKEE – A family whose 3-year-old daughter died from eating meat tainted with E. coli has received a $13.5 million settlement with the meat supplier and the franchise owner.

Brianna Kriefall had reportedly eaten at a Sizzler restaurant in South Milwaukee, Wis. in July 2000. She hadn’t eaten the meat, but lawyers had argued that watermelon she did eat has touched the tainted meat. She died a week later from E. coli related illness. Another 140 people were sickened from eating at Sizzler locations in the outbreak.

Meat supplier Excel Corp., a subsidiary of Cargill Inc., had until recently denied its meat was the source of the outbreak. But genetic testing showed the microbes that made the restaurant patrons sick matched microbes contained in an unopened package of its meat.

Sources report that the Kriefall family settlement includes $8.5 million from Excel and $2 million from E&B Management Co. of Waukesha, the franchise holder for the two restaurants that have since closed.

A lawsuit from E&B, the national Sizzler chain and an insurance company against Excel is continuing.

Source: Associated Press