Girl Gets $1.5 Million In E. Coli Suit

A 9-year-old Oak Harbor girl who was hospitalized in 1993 after eating a contaminated hamburger at a Jack-in-the-Box has reached a $1.5 million settlement with the restaurant’s parent company, its ground beef supplier and several slaughterhouses.

Carlesha Phillips was one of several hundred people who became ill in January 1993 after eating Jack-inthe-Box hamburgers contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. Three children in Washington state died in the outbreak.

Carlesha was hospitalized for 17 days and required dialysis after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a kidney ailment, said the family’s lawyer, Bill Marler of Seattle. In July 1995, she had her gall bladder removed due to damage caused by the E. coli bacteria, Marler said Wednesday.

Recent tests indicate her kidney function is normal, Marler said. Carlesha is now a fourth-grader at Crescent Harbor Elementary in Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island north of Seattle.

The settlement was reached with Foodmaker Inc., the San Diego-based parent of Jack-in-the-Box; Vons Inc., which supplied ground beef for Foodmaker; and several slaughterhouses.

The money Carlesha received has been placed in a trust and can only be used for her medical needs, Marler said.

Hundreds of lawsuits were filed. Most have been settled, for amounts ranging from $10,000 to $15.6 million.