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Man allergic to cheese seeks $10 million from McDonald's
8/8/2007 8:48 AM By Cara Bailey  -Monongalia Bureau

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Timothy D. Houston

MORGANTOWN - A Monongalia County man is seeking $10 million from McDonald's after an employee put cheese on his sandwich.

Jeromy Jackson, his mother Trela Jackson and his friend Andrew Ellifritz filed a suit July 18 in Monongalia Circuit Court against the popular fast-food chain because Jeromy Jackson is allergic to cheese.

According to the suit, Jackson, his mother and friend went to the drive-thru at the McDonald's on Chaplin Road in Morgantown on Oct. 30, 2005. Jackson claims he ordered two "Quarter Pounders" without cheese, stating he was allergic to cheese.

"From this point forward, Mr. Jackson repeatedly asked as to the status of his food and whether it had no cheese, and took multiple preventive steps to assure his food did not contain cheese," the suit says.

The suit says Jackson received his food, bit into one of his sandwiches and immediately began to have a severe allergic reaction. He was rushed to United Hospital Center in Clarksburg.

"Mr. Jackson was only moments from death and/or seriously debilitation injury when hospital staff intervened," the suit says.

Jeromy Jackson suffered injuries to his body and mind and has incurred medical expenses. Jackson, his mother and friend claim to have suffered mental anguish, pain and suffering and a loss of enjoyment of life.

The lawsuit claims the negligence of McDonald's put the lives of Trela Jackson and Ellifritz in danger also, because they were forced to rush Jeromy Jackton to the hospital under dangerous conditions.

In the four-count suit, the plaintiffs seek $10 million in punitive and compensatory damages.

In addition to McDonald's Corporation, the McDonald's Restaurants of West Virginia, Golden Arch Inc., McDonald's of Star City West Virginia, two Jane Does and two John Does are named in the suit.

Attorney Timothy D. Houston represents the plaintiffs.

Monongalia Circuit Court case number 07-C-469

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Comments on this article

  • Jackson was negligent.

    For someone to knowingly have a severe food allergy and 1. be dumb enough to go to a fast food establishment 2. not carry an EpiPen is complete negligence on his own part and in no way is the restaurant liable.

    by J. H. Day

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  • Typical abuse of our legal system

    "..and took multiple preventive steps to assure his food did not contain cheese," .... And then, with his very life depending on the absence of cheese, he just bit into it WITHOUT OPENING IT TO SEE FOR HIMSELF? This is absolute BS! Liberals and the ATLA block tort reform and a LOSER PAYS system would stop this nonsense of shaking down big corporations for huge settlements.

    by Mike M.

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  • Mulitple preventative steps...

    Apparently "multiple preventative steps" doesn't include actually **looking** at his food. Silly, frivolous lawsuit!

    by Mike B

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  • Idiot risks his life for a burger?

    The plaintiff in this case is responsible for the mishap, not the minimum wage McDonalds employee. Anyone with a fatal allergy should not order food at an establishment that uses the substance the are allergic to. I have a fatal peanut allergy; I don't eat at Thai or Vietnamese places because they use peanuts in their food. Just saying hold the peanuts isn't enough. Why would I risk my life to get a meal? Also if you suffer from food allergies you should carry and an epipen, this is a device that delivers enough epinephrine to avoid going into anaphylactic shock. The ambulance chasing lawyer and the idiot that hired him should have to pay McDonalds’ legal expenses for this frivolous lawsuit. McDonalds went above and beyond their responsibility by offering to pay the plaintiff’s medical expenses..

    by Wayne Price

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  • Jeromy Jackson- 10 Million dollar lawsuit

    "took multiple preventive steps to assure his food did not contain cheese" I guess looking at the sandwich was too hard...

    by Thisisntnewsandyourewhatswrongwithamerica

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  • Cheese Allergy is an Individual Responsibilty !

    I too am so allergic to cheese that I cannot eat it or I am in bad shape. In fact I have so many allergies that I have to be very vigilent in ordering and consuming anything at all. Restaurants should NOT be responsible for simple mistakes such as putting cheese on a burger that I ordered without cheese. The answer is simple; I have to open the burger and examine it before consuming it. It's not like McDonalds disguised the cheese as another product. Additionally; if this man had such a severe allergy to cheese (as I do as well) he should not be ordering or consuming food of any kind from any establishment that has cheese on the premises. If the allergy is as severe as the man states, then he could potentially suffer an allergic reaction simply because an employee touched cheese previous to making the burger without cheese. This man knew of his allergy before he entered McDonalds. He knew how severe the reaction might be and he should have taken personal responsibility by checking the burger before biting in. In fact; he probably should not have been in McDonalds where cheese was on the premises. There is definately someone to blame for this cheese allergy reaction- but it isn't McDonalds. It's the stupid guy that didn't bother to lift the bun and check the burger before biting in.

    by Sheri

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  • Accountability

    I think this is yet another in a long line of suits that are a joke and clogging up the court dockets. This is exactly the type of case that if the plaintiffs lose, should reimburse the court and the state for court costs, overtime, etc. If the gentleman was that concerned about the cheese, he should have checked as a final precaution. What is really a joke is the mother and other party suing for mental anguish, pain and suffering and a loss of enjoyment of life. How could a trip to the emergency room cause such pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life? They either get over it or they don't. Fortunately the boy was OK. This is the kind of stuff that burns me up. Frivolous law suits like this tie up the courts, cost taxpayers money and if a jury is sympathetic, increases the costs for products or services. I hope the government gets involved and starts holding people like this (who are obviously looking for a quick payday) accountable. If the people filing these types of suits are made to reimburse the courts and state then maybe they would think twice before trying to waste the courts time and get rich quick. Hopefully a Judge throws it out of court and the only thing they get out of it is a bill for the moron who took their case.

    by Black Knight

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  • Cheese Suit w/McDonalds

    This is ridiculous when you want to pursue a suit against someone or company for your not taking the time to look over a sandwich that could have inadvertantly contained cheese (purely by mistake). Purchaser should have looked at the sandwich prior to indulging. (since he was aware of his allergy). I can't stand the smell, sight of mayo or salad dressing- when ordering & I expressly state no Mayo, etc....but before taking a bite, I always look at what is about to be consumed. There has been numerous times from many fast food chains that this was overlooked. 2 things could have occurred with this botched up order..don't eat it & return it the restaurant or throw it away. This is the problem with our society- folks should not be able to sue for something that could have been prevented by pure "common sense" which seems as though most of the country is lacking nowadays! No one wants to be held accountable-they want to place blame everywhere else but themselves.

    by Kathy

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  • You ought to be ashamed!

    As a fellow lover of Quarter Pounders WITHOUT CHEESE, let me share with you that there is NO WAY in Hades that he did not see the cheese on this burger. Even if he did ask several times to make sure there was no cheese on the burger, it's his responsibility to check AGAIN. That is the problem with this world today, too many lazy people looking for a 'get rich quick' scheme and lawyers willing to risk their reputation representing these people. Grow up!

    by Pam Green

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  • Didn't he look?

    Why didn't one of the multiple steps include looking at the hamburger? I've had the quarter pounder with cheese many times and every time the cheese was right there in the open and not hiding under a pickle!

    by Jim

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  • Why UHC?

    Why would he be rushed almost an hour away if it was so serious? We have hospitals in Morgantown just minutes from that McDonalds. I agree he should have looked for himself. As soon as I saw this I said here we go again. This guy should sue himself for the teasing this lawsuit is going to bring him. I know if my husband tells me the traffic is clear in an intersection it's my life so I still look again....just as he should have done.

    by Patty M.

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  • You should all be ashamed.

    Prejudging a case based on reading only a complaint or a rehashing of the complaint is pure foolishness. Complaints don't contain all the facts, not by a longshot. Even if Jackson didn't look at the burger, McDonalds has responsibility here. Surely enough to let a jury decide - AFTER all the facts are out. Odd how big companies and special interests like the RIAA can file over 20,000 lawsuits in 4 years against college kids for having a few songs on their computer and the mob doesn't say a word. Its no wonder the rich keep getting richer and America is where its at. You people wouldn't stand up for yourselves if they took away your rusty folding chair (the kind our kids sit on in our public schools).

    by Will

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  • No Sir- YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!

    This is not a POLITICAL issue -- it is a health issue that the young man was aware he had and totally failed to be accountable and responsible for. Piracy is against the law, stupidity is not!

    by Char

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  • Look before you eat

    Period. If you are deathly allergic to something - then you cannot depend on others to take care of the "no cheese" order. And Hutton, what a slut. You know that this will all come back to y'all after you settle your millions between you. Shame on all of you.

    by

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  • Duh

    He took multiple preventative steps to make sure the food did not have cheese...but blindly bit into it? You should expect no cheese if you order no cheese, but if you are that allergic - ALWAYS LOOK FIRST.

    by Gabrielle

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  • wow

    It's a shame his car didn't crash en route to the hospital and kill him. Whatever happened to personal responsibility if his allergy was that bad he wouldn't have been to McDonalds in the first place.

    by jason

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  • McDonald's Lawsuite

    This is ridiculous. Has it come down to if anyone in the world makes a mistake the other party will sue? This is just another attempt to get a free ride! If they were taking such "PREVENTIVE MEASURES" then why didn't Mr. Jackson simply lift the bun to see if there was cheese on the sandwich? No one is perfect and mistakes get made! Not even God himself was perfect. This is one of the things that is wrong with our country. People like this who will sue over something as ridiculous as cheese on a hamberger, and lawyers who would actually, with a straight face, take this case.

    by Diane Marecki

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  • multiple preventive steps

    I guess looking at the sandwich before biting in wasn't on of them. It seems to me that anyone with an allergy so severe that simple mouth contact(note the immediate reaction) would be insane to eat out. A simple, minor mistake on the part of an individual outside of your control and supervision would mean your death.

    by NotNow

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  • Man allergic to cheese seeks $10 million from McDo

    Oh this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. In my opinion, he should get NOTHING and he should also have to pay the court costs. I've eaten dozens of those quarter pounders. They come with TWO slices of cheese and the cheese slices are large enough that, even when centered, would be hanging out of the bun in four places. Of course, my cheese slices are usually hanging halfway out of the bun. But still, if cheese is that much of a hazard to him, he should have at least LOOKED at the burger before he took a bite of it. PS - this image verification thing is also stupid. I had to squint and couldn't read it until I copied the image into Photoshop and zoomed in. A real hassle.

    by Ethan Matthews

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  • Cheese

    Poor Mr Jackson. Allergic to cheese AND blind. As well as his mother and friend. Three blind people unable to LOOK to confirm there was no cheese. No wonder their suing.

    by Jeff McCabe

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  • Lawsuit

    I guess the multiple preventive steps did not include LOOKING AT THE SANDWICH. What kind of waterhead is he?

    by Victor

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  • Cheesey Lawsuit

    This lawyer and these people are giant douche bags.

    by Michael

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  • lift a bun lately?

    ok i feel bad for this guy being allergic to cheese and all. but honestly, if you are that worried that someone might not understand, do not put cheese on my sandwich or i will die, i personally would lift that bun and pull that double quarter pounder apart making sure there was none of the yellow stuff on it. there a just too many law suits against fast food restaurants because people aren't being smart. just lift the bun for once.

    by M

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  • Why not lift the bun?

    If I was that allergic to cheese, and I went through all the trouble of verifying (while I was ordering my meal) that cheese was not put on my burger, then I would have lifted the bun to look first, and verified that the McDonalds employees heard me correctly. That's like being allergic to peanuts and going on a tour in Planters, then suing Planters for having peanuts in their factory.

    by FacingTheSharks

    url: http://www.facingthesharks.com

  • Uh, what?

    If I were that allergic, the first thing I would do is CHECK FOR CHEESE! People have to take SOME responsibility for their own safety. This lawsuit is ridiculous!

    by Cheryl

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  • Ridiculous

    Mr. Jackson did not take the most important precaution of all, he didn't check the burger himself. If he is that seriously allergic he should know that he himself has to check the burger. To sue McDonald's is ridiculous, this was his fault, not McDonald's, he should take responsibility.

    by Jan

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  • Get Rich Fast

    Sounds to me like this guy is one of them classical Get Rich Fast and at someone else's expense. How old was this idoit? If he had that kind of allergic reaction to cheese don't you think he would be smart enough to double check before he ate the stupid quarter pounder. I have no pity on someone who sues this easy. I bit he would even sue his neighbor if he hit and killed their dog with his vehicle. That's the kind of neighbor some of us have and the kind of person that makes a place of business have a hard time not charging the rest of us out the butt to pay the idoits off.

    by Sally

    url:

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