Food Poisoning Attorneys Helping Patrons Throughout Texas
In Texas, food-borne illnesses are quite common. Bacteria can grow quickly in food that is not stored properly (especially in the summer heat!) or if the food was prepared in unsanitary conditions. Severe cases of food poisoning can also occur from eating food or drinking beverages contaminated with toxic chemicals, polluted water, or animal waste.
Some of the most common cases of food poisoning can be linked to contaminated fish, poultry, pork, and beef, produce/vegetables, fruit, peanut butter, and even frozen foods that have been thawed and refrozen. If you get sick from food poisoning at a restaurant, store, or another commercial establishment in Texas, you have a right to seek justice and receive compensation for your injuries from that business.
Food poisoning cases can be difficult to prove, however, because the product is no longer available. It’s also hard to identify who the responsible party is for the contamination (was it the restaurant or the supplier?). That’s why it’s essential to contact an experienced premises or product liability/personal injury lawyer in Texas, such as RTRLAW, to make sure you receive the most compensation possible for your liability claim.
Can You Sue for Food Poisoning?
In Texas, you may be able to sue for food poisoning if you can show that a restaurant, store, supplier, or food manufacturer was negligent and that their actions (or inactions) caused your illness. Food poisoning claims typically fall under premises liability, product liability, or negligence law.
To file a successful lawsuit, your legal team must prove:
- The contaminated food or beverage caused your illness
- The establishment or food handler failed to follow proper safety or sanitation protocols
- You suffered damages (such as medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering) as a direct result
In many cases, proving food poisoning requires medical documentation, lab results, health department records, and sometimes expert testimony. This is why having an experienced attorney, like those at RTRLAW, can make a significant difference in how your case is handled and what compensation you’re able to recover.
What Rights Do You Have If You Get Food Poisoning From a Restaurant in Texas?
If contaminated food from a restaurant causes a serious illness, you may have the right to pursue compensation when negligence, unsafe food handling, improper storage, contamination, or another preventable problem caused your illness. Becoming sick after eating at a restaurant is not enough by itself, however, because a successful claim generally requires evidence connecting the food or the restaurant’s conduct to your injuries.
Depending on the circumstances, your rights may include pursuing compensation for:
- Emergency room visits, hospitalization, doctor appointments, testing, medication, and other medical expenses
- Lost wages if the illness caused you to miss work
- Loss of future income when complications affect your ability to work
- Pain, physical discomfort, and other non-economic damages
- Future medical treatment when the illness causes lasting health problems
The restaurant may not be the only potentially responsible party. If the contamination occurred before the food reached the restaurant, a food processor, distributor, supplier, manufacturer, or another business in the supply chain may also be involved.
Evidence becomes particularly important in a food poisoning case because the contaminated food may be thrown away or consumed before anyone realizes it caused an illness. Keep restaurant receipts, photographs, leftover food or packaging when it can be safely preserved, medical records, laboratory results, the names of anyone who ate with you and became sick, and information about any report made to a health department.
Texas also generally imposes a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury lawsuits, although the exact deadline can depend on the circumstances of the case. Waiting can create another problem even before the legal deadline arrives because restaurant records, surveillance footage, food samples, and witness memories may disappear.
Your rights ultimately depend on what caused the illness, who was responsible for the contamination, and what losses you suffered as a result. The sooner those questions are investigated, the better chance you have of preserving the evidence needed to determine whether a valid food poisoning claim exists.
Who Physically Pays For The Settlement When You Sue A Restaurant and Win?
Winning or settling a food poisoning claim does not necessarily mean the restaurant owner personally writes the injured customer a check. In many cases, compensation is paid through liability insurance covering the restaurant or another business that is legally responsible for the contaminated food.
Who actually pays can depend on where the contamination occurred. Possible sources of compensation may include:
- The restaurant’s liability insurance: A restaurant’s commercial insurance may respond when unsafe preparation, storage, sanitation, or employee conduct caused the illness.
- A supplier or distributor’s insurer: If contaminated ingredients entered the restaurant through a supplier or distributor, another company’s insurance may become involved.
- A food manufacturer’s insurance: A manufacturer may be responsible when a packaged or processed food product was contaminated before reaching the restaurant.
- Multiple insurance policies: Some cases involve more than one responsible company, particularly when investigators cannot initially determine where the contamination entered the food supply.
- The business itself: A company may be self-insured, responsible for a deductible or self-insured retention, or potentially responsible for amounts that are not covered by available insurance.
Most personal injury cases are resolved through a negotiated settlement rather than a trial. When a settlement is reached, the responsible insurance carrier or business generally funds the agreed amount in exchange for resolving the claim.
A court judgment can be different because obtaining a judgment and collecting it are separate issues. Available insurance coverage, the defendant’s assets, the number of responsible parties, and other circumstances can affect how a successful recovery is ultimately paid.
Identifying every potential source of compensation can therefore be just as important as proving that contaminated food caused the illness. A thorough investigation can determine whether responsibility stops with the restaurant or extends to other companies involved in preparing, manufacturing, distributing, or supplying the food.
How Can RTRLAW Help Me With My Food Poisoning Case?
RTRLAW’s knowledgeable, qualified premises or product liability and personal injury attorneys represent clients who get sick from food poisoning due to unsafe or unsanitary conditions or eating contaminated food or beverages at a restaurant, store, hotel, club, or commercial establishment.
Since our founding in 1988, RTRLAW has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients who were harmed due to the negligence of a person, product, or business.
These recoveries helped provide compensation to our clients for medical bills and lost wages, as well as non-economic damages, such as a reduced quality of life.
If you think you have food poisoning right now, seek medical treatment immediately as appropriate. Then give RTRLAW a call right afterward at 1-833-HIRE-RTR (1-833-447-3787).
You can schedule an appointment to meet with an attorney at one of our convenient offices located in Dallas or Garland.
Or we can come to you – at your home, place of business, or even at the hospital, or via video conference. We’re there for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
RTRLAW works on contingency, meaning we don’t get paid unless and until we win your case and recover money for you.
If you’ve had a serious case of food poisoning, you need to contact us today in Texas for a free, no-obligation case review, chat with us right now, or call us at (972) 478-1801 or toll-free at 1-833-HIRE-RTR (1-833-447-3787) for immediate assistance.
