Ron Simon Files Salmonella Lawsuit Against Iguana Joe's Restaurant

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Sep 15, 2014, 06:00 ET

HOUSTON, Sept. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today national food safety lawyer Ron Simon filed a lawsuit stemming from a salmonella outbreak linked to Iguana Joe's Restaurant in Humble, Texas.

A copy of the lawsuit is attached.

The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Harris County, Texas on behalf of Ashton Rodriguez, a nine year old boy who ate at Iguana Joe's on June 15, 2013 after a little league baseball tournament. By that evening, Ashton began to experience severe abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. His symptoms continued unabated over the next few days, and by June 20^th his parents had no choice but to take him to Kingwood Medical Hospital where Ashton was placed on an IV and admitted to the hospital's pediatric unit. During his three days in the hospital, Ashton experienced episodes of diarrhea which sent him to the bathroom every 30 minutes to an hour with concurrent fever and periodic vomiting spells. He also suffered severe abdominal cramping.

Once Ashton's stool culture came back positive for salmonella, health officials confirmed that he was one of dozens of victims who had contracted salmonella poisoning after eating at Iguana Joe's during Father's Day weekend of June 15-16, 2013.

Ashton lost 10 pounds and spent over one month recovering from his illness.

Harris County Health Officials Repeatedly Warn Iguana Joe's

Iguana Joe's had a prior history of non-compliance with safe, sanitary food preparation practices. The Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services' (HCPHES) Environmental Public Health Division (EPHD) had recently given Iguana Joe's written notices that the restaurant was a danger to its customers.

Among these written warnings were Foodborne Illness Risk Assessments, issued periodically by the EPHD. Approximately one year prior to the outbreak, on April 20, 2012, the EPHD put Iguana Joe's on notice that it posed an "Extremely High Risk" of causing food borne illness. The EPHD assessed Iguana Joe's with a Risk Score of 123 (a score that is - literally - "off the charts." As a result, the EPHD placed Iguana Joe's on the mandated schedule of 12 inspections per year and also ordered Iguana Joe's to engage in remedial actions.

During EPHD inspections on May 9, 13 and 31, 2013 - just weeks before the outbreak that sickened Ashton and others - many of the critical observations within these inspection reports were the same as those made during the previous year.

As a result of the May 9^th, 13^th, and 31^st inspections, Iguana Joe's received demerits for critical violations including:

a.	failure to properly handle food;
b.	failure to properly provide for hand-washing;
c.	failure to have a knowledgeable manager on duty; and
d.	failure to ensure proper sanitation of surfaces and utensils.

On June 5, 2013, only 10 days before the outbreak, Iguana Joe's received another EPHD Foodborne Illness Risk Assessment with a Risk Score of 98, which indicated a "High Risk" of causing foodborne illness.

The Iguana Joe's Salmonella Outbreak

Unsurprisingly, the risks outlined in the EPHD's two most recent Foodborne Illness Risk Assessments materialized. Dozens of patrons were sickened by salmonella food poisoning after eating at Iguana Joe's. All of the victims (including Ashton) had eaten at the restaurant on Father's Day weekend (June 15^th or 16^th), leading media outlets to refer to the outbreak as the "Iguana Joe's Father's Day Salmonella Outbreak."

On June 21^st, the EPHD opened an investigation. At the initial meeting at Iguana Joe's, investigator Marcus Kufeji noted that Iguana Joe's was storing lettuce in a hand-washing sink, a clear violation and potential source of cross-contamination.

The next day, the EPHD conducted a full inspection of the restaurant. Even with knowledge of the recent salmonella outbreak – and that EPHD inspectors were coming to look for violations - Iguana Joe's received an incredible twenty nine demerits.

The EPHD investigators noted numerous critical violations, including the storage of raw hamburger in a trash can. The EPHD cited Iguana Joe's for several failures, including:

a.	Improper cooling of food;
b.	Failure to maintain proper hot hold temperatures;
c.	Failure to properly reheat foods;
d.	Failure to maintain good hygienic practices;
e.	Failure to prevent cross-contamination of raw foods;
f.	Failure to have a properly certified manager on duty; and
g.	Failure to maintain clean equipment and utensils.

The findings were so serious that the EPHD issued a citation for manager Sandra Walker to appear in court for keeping Iguana Joe's in an unsanitary condition. The EPHD fined Sandra Walker $200.00 and court costs.

Just two days later, EPHD officials conducted a follow-up inspection at Iguana Joe's. Shockingly, many of the earlier violations remained uncorrected. The EPHD's June 24^th report noted critical violations for:

a.	Improper cooling of food;
b.	Failure to maintain cold hold temperatures;
c.	Improper hot hold temperatures;
d.	Failure to maintain hand-washing facilities with soap/towels;
e.	Improper manual/mechanical warewashing and sanitizing; and
f.	Failure to maintain clean equipment and utensils.

As a result of this disastrous inspection report, the EPHD issued Bonnie Ybarra, one of Iguana Joe's owners, a citation for keeping a business in an unsanitary condition. The EPHD fined Bonnie Ybarra $200.00 and court costs.

In addition, EPHD inspectors were forced to confiscate and destroy 62 pounds of food, determining that the food was adulterated, not fit for human consumption, and posed a threat to public safety.

Shortly thereafter, HCPHES announced that the restaurant would be closed on June 25^th due to "continued critical violations that put the public's health at risk." The HCPHES gave Iguana Joe's two days to correct the problems.

But when inspectors returned, HCPHES Director Michael Schaffer revealed in regards to the closure, that one of the problems he faced was "the same violations that allowed people to get sick. And I just can't continue to let the public be at risk." (for more information, see the following web link: http://www.click2houston.com/news/health-officials-closed-iguana-joes-restaurant-in-humble/20710258).

On June 29^th, inspectors oversaw the destruction of 4374.3 pounds of food from Iguana Joe's due to "possible contamination associated with recent foodborne illness reports."

HCPHES eventually allowed Iguana Joe's to reopen only after Iguana Joe's took remedial actions and trained its staff in proper food handling and preparation.

EPHD Finds More Violations at Iguana Joe's

Unfortunately, Iguana Joe's did not learn its lesson.

On April 8, 2014, EPHD investigators assessed Iguana Joe's with a Foodborne Illness Risk Assessment Score of 130 - even higher than the two scores that preceded the salmonella outbreak. Once again, the EPHD found that Iguana Joe's posed an "Extremely High Risk" of causing foodborne illness to its customers.

And on May 8, 2014, Iguana Joe's received yet another non-compliant inspection report, being linked once again to a report of foodborne illness.

Copies of all of the aforementioned inspection reports are available upon request to [email protected].

Food Safety Lawyer Ron Simon Issues Statement for the Victims

Ron Simon, counsel for the Rodriguez family and 18 other victims in the salmonella outbreak, issued the following statement today: "We will determine exactly why Iguana Joe's management allowed numerous, repeated health code violations to occur so that we can prevent this from happening again. Iguana Joe's knowingly put its customers in harm's way, and will now face the consequences of those decisions."

About Ron Simon

Over the last 20 years, Ron Simon and his colleagues have prosecuted thousands of food poisoning cases for victims across the United States. His work has resulted in numerous upgrades to food safety procedures in Fortune 500 companies and in legislation designed to protect consumers from dangerous food-borne pathogens.

Mr. Simon and his clients have been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and virtually all other major television networks and print media. Mr. Simon has collected over $600,000,000 for his clients and regularly publishes articles about food safety and litigation at www.foodpoisoningnews.com which are read in over 180 countries.

Through litigation, media commentary, and his food poisoning publications, Mr. Simon relentlessly challenges food manufacturers, distributors, and restaurants to do a better job in making our food safe.

For media inquiries or more information on this outbreak and ongoing litigation, please contact Ron Simon directly at (713) 819-8116 or [email protected].

PDF - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/ENR/Original Petition - File Stamped.pdf
PDF - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/ENR/1.pdf
PDF - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/ENR/2.pdf
PDF - http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/ENR/3.pdf

SOURCE Ron Simon & Associates