A police officer and his family from Sydney, Nebraska have been awarded $40,000 from their lawsuit which alleged that a KFC/Taco Bell store had served them food contaminated with an employee’s spit and urine in 2005. The lawsuit stated that fellow workers actually saw the employee taint the food and told management who failed to alert the family, according to the AP. Consequently, the officer’s two sons became violently ill. His 4-year-old was hospitalized and treated for gastroenteritis and dehydration. Details, inside…

The article says,

A KFC spokesman, Rick Maynard, said KFC is committed to the highest levels of food safety.

“Our franchisee does not agree with the court’s verdict, and they are looking at their legal options,” Maynard said Monday.

The suit also alleged that Andrew, his wife and their children were victims of an employee scheme that targeted police officers.

“Employees maintained ‘special servings’ of food reserved for … officers,” the lawsuit said. “The ‘special servings’ had been urinated in or spit in by KFC/Taco Bell employees.”

The employee accused of urinating and spitting in the Andrew family’s food, Casey Diedrich, pleaded guilty last year to violating the Nebraska Pure Food Act and fined $100, according to court records. The prosecution was for the same incident described in the lawsuit.

A company spokesman said last year that Diedrich eventually was fired for missing work but not for any of the incidents the lawsuit cited.

What’s even more shocking than the food contamination itself is that the management did nothing to prevent the family from consuming the tainted food. We can understand how the concept of CYA (cover your ass) may have been a factor, but when information has been brought to your attention that directly impacts the safety of your customers, as a restaurant manager, the only reasonable action is prevent anyone from consuming that food. Now, I’m starting to wonder about all the times that KFC has left me feeling nauseous–I better not.

Neb. cop, family win $40K over urine-tainted food [AP]
(Photo:Scott Ableman)

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