Rights lawyer plans listeria action
A HUMAN rights lawyer plans to launch a class action lawsuit against food producer Tiger Brands on behalf of the families of people who died or were affected by the listeria outbreak.
South Africa’s health minister said on Thursday that the government would support anyone intending court action over the outbreak that has killed 180 people since January last year.
Tiger Brands said on Friday that it had received a report from the department of health confirming the presence of the LST6 listeria strain at its factory in Polokwane and it was appointing an expert team to identify the causes.
On Saturday, spokesperson Nevashnee Naicker said the company “had not received any notifications of any class action suits” and declined to comment further.
The planned class action is being prepared by Richard Spoor, who has spearheaded legal action against gold producers over the lung disease silicosis for which companies have set aside R5 billion in provisions.
“I expect to launch it in two to three weeks,” Spoor said.
US lawyer Bill Marler, who won $110 million (R1.3bn) in compensation from fast-food chain Jack in the Box for victims of a 1993 e.coli outbreak that sickened 700 people and killed four, is consulting on the case.
“In the US we would not use a class action, because the variety of damages are so different for all of these people,” said Marler, currently in Johannesburg.
“There are differences between people who are sick for a week and those who died or have long-term complications. But here you can do that all in one class action,” he said.
A class action typically involves a large number of people who collectively band together to sue a person or company for damages.
The source is low-priced processed meats that are mostly consumed by the poor and working class, prompting a recall of such products and bans on imports of them from South Africa by several countries in the region.
Tiger Brands chief executive Lawrence MacDougall said last Monday said that there was no direct link between the deaths and its processed cold meat products.
In Malawi on Saturday South African processed meats were set alight in large bonfires in several locations, one of which fires which was in the capital Lilongwe.