Schnucks sued over alleged salad bar food poisoning

A woman claims she and her daughter developed food poisoning from a salad purchased at a local grocery store.

Tiffany Sinovic and Thomas Sinovic filed a lawsuit March 4 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Schnucks Supermarkets, Gregory Wilhelm, Patti Smith, Dan Schad, Pete Korobey, Cindy Grohmann and Tina Malacarne.

In their complaint, the Sinovics allege Tiffany Sinovic purchased a salad from Schnucks on Oct. 19, 2011. Both Tiffany Sinovic and her minor daughter, Addison Sinovic, ate crisp lettuce from the salad, according to the complaint.

On Oct. 20, 2011, Tiffany and Addison Sinovic began experiencing abdominal discomfort followed by diarrhea and vomiting that caused them to become hospitalized on Oct. 23, 2011, where they remained for a number of days, the suit states. Both were later diagnosed with shiga toxin and E. Coli, the complaint says.

Because of their ingestion of the salad, in addition to their illnesses, Tiffany and Addison Sinovic suffered severe pain and were prevented from attending to their usual duties and affairs. In addition, Tiffany Sinovic lost wages, according to the complaint.

The Sinovics blame Schnucks for causing their injuries, saying it negligently sold food contaminated with E. coli, served contaminated food, failed to review the work of its employees, failed to check the qualifications of its employees and failed to provide adequate facilities for the preparation of its food.

They also name Wilhelm Smith, Schad, Korobey, Grohmann and Malacarne as defendants. All were managers at Schnucks and allegedly failed to perform their job duties by negligently failing to implement proper safety measures, by failing to comply with health and safety acts, by serving tainted food, by failing to inspect food containing equipment, by failing to properly prepare food products, by failing to inspect food products for the possibility of bacterial diseases and by failing to inspect cooking and serving containers.

In their 20-count complaint, the Sinovics seek a judgment of more than $800,000, plus punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and other relief the court deems just.

Thomas R. Ysursa of Belleville will be representing them.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 13-L-123.