Dec. 31--A Tinley Park woman who says she became ill with salmonella after eating food from a Tinley Park Jewel-Osco deli is suing the supermarket chain.
In the two-count lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Cook County, Janet Dominik alleged Jewel-Osco was negligent and is liable for the harm caused by "an unsafe and defective food product."
Dominik suffered nausea, diarrhea, fever, fatigue, muscle pain and abdominal cramps after eating food from the deli May 9, about a month before public health officials began investigating a salmonella outbreak linked to the Tinley Park Jewel-Osco's deli, according to the lawsuit.
Dominik's attorney, Timothy Tomasik, said she went to the emergency room, was diagnosed with salmonella and spent eight days in the hospital. He said she was a loyal customer who bought lunch from the deli several times a week. They do not know what she ate that was contaminated with salmonella, Tomasik said.
Cook County Department of Public Health officials said in June that they were investigating a salmonella outbreak potentially linked to the Jewel-Osco at 171st Street and Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park after 15 people became ill, four of whom were hospitalized.
Jewel-Osco officials temporarily closed the store's service deli June 11 "out of an abundance of caution," the store's spokeswoman said at the time.
Tomasik said the number of similar cases among the store's customers was "not a coincidence."
"I believe the facts will demonstrate staff failed to adequately prepare, cook and refrigerate the food that was available to customers of the deli," he said.
A statement from Jewel-Osco said the company had not seen the lawsuit and was unable to comment on specific details, but spokeswoman Jennifer Mifflin said county health officials had found evidence of salmonella at their Tinley Park store.
Dominik's suit is at least the second filed as a result of the incident, Tomasik said. Colleen Ghelfi, of Tinley Park, sued the store in June alleging food from its deli caused her 11-year-old son to be hospitalized with a salmonella infection.
lzumbach@tribpub.com
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