CHICAGO -- Attorneys who sued Jewel Food Stores on behalf of thousands of victims of a 1985 salmonella outbreak have not decided whether to appeal a jury verdict in favor of the grocery chain.
The jury deliberated for about six hours Thursday before deciding that Jewel officials did not act recklessly when salmonella-tainted milk caused one of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in U.S. history.
The verdict means punitive damages will not be assessed against the grocery chain or its parent company, American Stores Co., in the nation's largest single class action liability case for such damages.
The plaintiffs had sought $30 million to $100 million from Jewel. The trial lasted about nine months.
William Harte and Lawrence Lecke, attorneys representing the 20,000 plaintiffs, said they would review the case before deciding whether to appeal.
At issue were the chain's actions between March 29 and April 9, 1985, when the Hillfarm Dairy in suburban Melrose Park remained opened as Jewel and health officials sought the source of the food poisoning. The dairy will never reopen, Jewel officials said.
Jewel Foods President James Henson expressed satisfaction with the verdict, saying he believed his firm had done all it could to protect the public.
'We are extremely gratified by the finds of the jury,' Henson said. 'We've always believed and presented evidence to support our position that we acted responsibly based on the information available at the time of this unfortunate incident. We're pleased the jury agreed with us and found no basis for punitive damages.'
State Public Health Department records show 16,932 confirmed cases of salmonella poisoning from drinking contaminated milk from the dairy.
Before the trial, Jewel agreed to pay compensatory damages such as medical costs, lost wages and time and pain and suffering to those affected by the outbreak.
The plaintiffs accused Jewel of betraying its customers' trust, willfully failing to warn people about salmonella contamination of its milk and recklessly endangering public health to save money.
They said Jewel did not want to lose sales by closing the dairy during the lucrative Easter season.
Jewel still faces 1,400 class-action and individual suits from other victims, including at least four persons believed to have died because of illnesses associated with the epidemic.
