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Brain Injury Lawsuit Against KFC Ends in Verdict for Plaintiff

Our Chicago brain injury lawyers often explain that brain injuries can arise in many ways. Traumatic brain injuries are the most common head injuries involving negligence, and they are caused by severe blows to the head in things like car accidents, sports collisions, and falls. Beyond that, some brain injury lawsuits allege medical malpractice. Considering the frailty of many medical patients, errors made by medical efforts often cause irreversible brain damage. This is a particularly strong risk for newborn babies who can suffer brain damage as a result of errors during the birthing process.

Yet, beyond these situations, there are actually other ways that an individual can develop a brain injury caused by the negligence of another. These often involve situations and risks that most community members didn’t even know existed. For example, ABC Online reported last week on the end of a brain injury lawsuit filed against the popular fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). The article explains that a young girl was left permanently paralyzed because of food poisoning that she developed after eating contaminated food at one of the fast food restaurants.

The seven year old girl ate at the restaurant with her family. Many members of the family became sick shortly after the meal. However, the young girl had it the worst. She apparently developed salmonella encephalopathy. This is a brain injury linked to food poisoning. She eventually developed a blood infection that led to septic shock. At one point the girl’s family did not think that she was going to survive; she fell so sick that last rites were actually given. Fortunately, she pulled thought, but she did not survive unscathed. These medical issues have had severe consequences for the girl. According to information that came out in the lawsuit, she has motor, cognitive, and speech impairments on top of being a spastic quadriplegic all because of the food poisoning.

Eventually her family hired a brain injury lawyer and filed a suit against the restaurant for the poisoning. Late last week the court in the case issued a verdict in favor of the young girl. They found that the food poisoning was caused by the specific meal that the girl ate at the restaurant.

The court found that the chicken at issue became contaminated because of errors by staff members at the KFC. The court explained that the food preparation was negligently handled, allowing the bacteria to make it into the food that the family unknowingly consumed. The ruling made clear that the negligence of the employees was the cause of the injury and that the business was vicariously liable for the conduct of those workers while on the job.

The decision was likely reached, in part, because of damaging health reviews that the specific restaurant received in the months before the family in this case became sick. According to the information that came out in the case, an internal health review found that the standards at the facility were at “breakdown” levels, with severe hygiene and food preparation problems.

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