Parent Firm Of Jack In The Box Settles Lawsuit By Shareholders

The corporate owners of Jack in the Box, the fastfood chain whose hamburgers poisoned hundreds of people throughout the West in 1993, have settled a class-action lawsuit filed by its shareholders for $12 million.

The lawsuit alleged that the company, Foodmaker, misrepresented the quality of its food in a prospectus that offered stock for sale, said Steve Berman, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in shareholder classaction suits. The settlement was approved Friday by U.S. District Judge William Dwyer in Seattle.

Shareholders of record between March 4, 1992, when the company first offered stock for sale, and January 22, 1993, when the market became aware of the epidemic of E. coli food poisoning caused by contaminated burgers, will participate in the $12 million settlement fund, Berman said.