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A popular Tacoma restaurant may be facing legal action after Washington state health officials linked their milkshakes to a deadly listeria outbreak. The family of Charles Roberson, of Yelm, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Frugals in Pierce County on Monday (August 21), according to KOMO.
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) confirmed Friday (August 18) that the listeria strain that left six people hospitalized and three dead was tied to a milkshake machine at the burger stop. Investigators learned employees were cleaning the machines improperly at the Frugals located at 10727 Pacific Avenue South.
DOH believes no other location has been affected, but Frugals said they've stopped using milkshake machines at all locations "out of an abundance of caution for our customers."
Bill Marler, the lawyer representing Roberson's family, told reporters the victim drank a milkshake from that Frugals location. Roberson ended up suffering neck and arm numbness, as well as pain, before later dying.
"This is a really sad situation. You know, a husband and wife married for 45 years. He eats a Frugal shake, becomes ill," Marler explained. "You can’t undo a death but what you can do is make everything transparent so we can learn from this unfortunate incident, to hopefully convince people to do a better job in cleaning their equipment."
DOH said the contamination could affect customers who ate a milkshake from the Frugals restaurant between May 29 and August 7. The location stopped using the machine as of August 8, but officials warned listeria symptoms can pop up 70 days later. They also advised affected customers to contact their healthcare provider.
Listeria is a bacteria that can cause fever, muscle aches, fatigue, headaches, and more. Pregnant people and their newborns, adults aged 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to fall ill.
Frugals expressed their condolences for the lives lost and promised to cooperate with the investigation in a Friday statement posted on Facebook.
"As a family-owned business for over 30 years, the trust of our customers is paramount We will continue to fully cooperate with this investigation, and we are committed to making any changes. deemed necessary to maintain our high standard of operations and prevent this from happening again," the statement reads in part.