Second Lawsuit Over Hepatitis A
A class-action lawsuits has been filed on behalf of those who have been vaccinated for hepatitis A after being sickened by the virus’ outbreak in Hawaii.
A second lawsuit in as many weeks has been filed against the restaurant chain and two distributors of tainted scallops that have caused Hawaii’s hepatitis A outbreak.
Oahu resident Bryan Cuelho filed the class-action lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of those who have received treatment to prevent the infection of hepatitis A after consuming the scallops and other “adulterated food or drink” since April.
Cuelho’s lawsuit — filed by , a Seattle-based law firm specializing in food safety, and a Honolulu-based — notes that the number of potential class members to be “in the thousands.”
According to the , the state’s ongoing outbreak — the worst in decades — has so far sickened 206 people.
Last week, the confirmed the outbreak鈥檚 source as frozen scallops imported from the Philippines by , which issued a voluntary recall on the product, and distributed by to Genki Sushi’s 11 locations on Oahu and Kauai.
Cuelho’s lawsuit lists the three companies as defendants, accusing them of negligence for “manufacturing, importing, distributing and selling a food product that was adulterated, not fit for human consumption and not reasonably safe.”
According to the lawsuit, Cuelho, of Waialua, ate the tainted scallops at Genki Sushi’s Waikele location on Aug. 6 and got a hepatitis A vaccine 10 days later. He is seeking unspecified damages for lost wages, medical and travel expenses, emotional distress, physical pain and injury, and “fear of harm and humiliation.”
