Nobody likes to get a stomach bug. It’s one of the most miserable experiences you can have, translating into a day or three of awful pain, discomfort and unhappiness. When you think you’ve gotten sick as the result of something you ate, it’s even worse.

Some people wonder if they can sue a restaurant when they get food poisoning. The question, in the end, isn’t whether you can sue the restaurant, but whether you should. Learn about food poisoning and lawsuits, whether you can sue a restaurant for foodborne illness and when you need an Oklahoma City personal injury attorney.

Proving Foodborne Illness

If you’re looking to sue a restaurant for your foodborne illness, the first complication you’ll face is proving it. Food poisoning can result from so many different things, it can be very hard to pin it down. Consider that it can take up to a week for it to manifest, depending on the variety of illness you contract. So was it the shrimp cocktail you ate last night that got you or was it the tuna salad at last week’s dinner party? Proving you got sick at the restaurant can be tricky.

Negligence

Next, you’ll need to demonstrate that the restaurant was negligent in some way, that they violated their responsibility to provide you food that was safe to eat, and that’s why you got sick. Can you prove that the restaurant wasn’t keeping the food at a safe temperature, or that your waiter failed to wash their hands?

What if the food that made you ill was something contaminated without the restaurant’s knowledge, before it came to them, that they had no way to avoid (fresh veggies on a salad bar, for example, that were tainted at the farm where they were grown)? This example can present something of a gray area, but it can be a stumbling block in your case, nevertheless.

Is It Worth It?

Personal injury cases can take a long time to pursue. They can be drawn out and expensive. By comparison, the vast majority of food poisoning cases construe a couple days’ worth of discomfort and then they pass. Certainly, there are exceptions — things like botulism, severe salmonella cases, e. Coli, and the like — but for the most part you’re not going to be permanently disabled from foodborne illness, and without serious, long-term injury you may not have a case.

Talk to an Oklahoma City Personal Injury Attorney

In the end, if you think you have a case for personal injury, your best bet is always to ask for help from an Oklahoma City personal injury attorney. The right lawyer will be able to advise you about your case, and the correct road to follow. If you need help with an injury or illness case involving negligence, call the injury attorneys at Parrish DeVaughn for a consult about your case today.