Three lawsuits have been filed alleging that diners who ate at a Clairemont restaurant a few weeks ago contracted salmonella, attorneys handling the cases said Thursday.
The county said Thursday it has recorded 98 probable or confirmed cases of people who have gotten sick with salmonella after dining at Aladdin Mediterranean Cafe from April 25 to May 1. County officials said last week that those sickened range in age from 1 to 90. At least nine people had to be hospitalized.
The county says the source of the outbreak has not been determined, and the investigation remains underway.
A person who answered the phone at the restaurant Thursday declined to comment. Court records do not list an attorney for Aladdin.
The restaurant voluntarily closed May 1, and the county approved it to reopen May 10. County spokesperson Anita Lightfoot said Aladdin replaced all its food products and underwent a deep disinfection. Additionally, all its food handlers underwent a clearance process. The county inspected the site on May 10, and gave it an A grade.
Aladdin Mediterranean Restaurant posted a statement on social media saying the health department “has performed multiple, extensive health inspections and interviews of our staff” and had been unable to determine a source of the outbreak.
The restaurant’s posting says customer health and safety is its “number one priority,” and that it has maintained A grades from the health department during its 32 years of operation. “We take cleanliness very seriously and understand the responsibility that comes with preparing and serving food to our community .”
The attorneys handling the cases, which are filed in San Diego Superior Court, and a handful of their clients addressed reporters at a news conference outside the restaurant Thursday. “We will get to the bottom of how this happened, I promise you,” said attorney Ron Simon, who is based in Houston and specializes in food poisoning litigation.
Simon’s firm has teamed up with San Diego-based John Gomez and his firm, Gomez Trial Attorneys. They have filed three lawsuits naming the restaurant on behalf of five clients. Simon said he expects they will file many more, given that they have more than 50 clients. They don’t file class actions; the suits are more individualized and tailored to the specifics of a client’s experience.
Plaintiff Charles McLaughlin, who is suing Aladdin, told reporters that he took his girlfriend to the restaurant on a Saturday night. By Monday morning, he said, they were “both feeling super ill.” As the days progressed, he said, it got worse. “Pretty nasty experience.” He went to an urgent care and later learned he tested positive for salmonella.
Nubia Munguia, who is also suing, said she fell so ill — “I felt like I was dying,” she said — she went to an emergency room and was itted into the hospital. She told reporters she had to take time off work and is still recovering.
Simon said that about half of his 58 clients from the suspected outbreak had been sick enough to seek medical attention. He said that under the law, if a restaurant serves food that harms someone, “whether or not they knew it, whether or not they intended to do it, they are responsible, just like the supplier, just like the manufacturer all the way down the chain.”
Simon told the Union-Tribune on Thursday afternoon that several people in San Diego called his firm within a span of a couple of days near the end of April, suspecting they had suffered some sort of food poisoning. He said the firm is continuing to field calls from potential clients regarding the outbreak, including a handful who reached out after the news conference.
Symptoms of salmonella include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps and fever, and generally begin 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food, according to the county. It can last for a few days to a week.
