McDonalds Slapped With Class Action Lawsuit For Exposing Customers To Hepatitis A

A customer sued the operator of a McDonald's restaurant in Waterloo, New York on Wednesday after customers were served food and beverage made by a worker suffering from hepatitis A.

The lawsuit was filed by Christopher Welch, one of the diners who had consumed the food products on at least one of the days when the hepatitis A affected worker was on duty at the Waterloo outlet. The lawsuit seeks class-action status for affected customers who may number more than 1000, reported TechTimes.

The alleged employee was confirmed positive for hepatitis A by Seneca County Health officials who conducted the test on November 13, according to YouthHealth.

Although the public health officials have mentioned that the diners of the restaurant do not have a high risk of contracting the disease, they still recommend people, who ate food or drinks from the particular outlet from October 31 to November 7, to get themselves treated if they were not previously vaccinated against hepatitis A.

"In Seneca County we have we have not had Hepatitis A outbreak before, at least a large breakout in the 23 years since I've been here. I'm glad to see we had such a good turnout and that people are taking this seriously," said Seneca County Public Health Department Director Vicky Swinehart in a statement.

According to the World Health Organization, hepatitis A is a contagious virus that causes liver infections. A person suffering from hepatitis can develop mild to severe symptoms including fever, malaise, pain in the abdomen, loss of appetite, jaundice and nausea. The symptoms usually appear as early as 14 days since the exposure to the virus.

In McDonald's case, the affected employee can spread the disease to the customers if he or she failed to clean hands after going to the bathroom or has touched utensils and surfaces served to the diners.