Two Sue Pars Cove Over Illness

By Laura Oppenheimer in Food on Jul 17, 2007 3:30PM

In news we probably could have guessed was coming, the first lawsuit against Pars Cove over the Taste of Chicago has been filed; Monique Roach, 49, and Willie Smith, 43, both from Chicago's Morgan Park neighborhood have filed a lawsuit against the Persian restaurant, alleging "the restaurant failed to properly inspect, store or package the food, or made some other mistake that caused the pair to become sick." The ironically-named Roach is seeking $30,000 in damages, with Smith seeking a smaller amount.
Since news of the salmonella outbreak emerged, more than 500 people have reported becoming ill. Roach became sick after attending the Taste and originally thought she simply had the flu. As the symptoms became worse over three days, she went to the doctor, who ended up sending her to the hospital.

"Having my kids wasn't as bad as the pain and distress that my body was going through those five days," Roach told the Trib. "Truly, I thought I was dying."

Pars Cove feebly tried to defend itself. "It seems a little early for people to make a decision when we don't know for sure if it's something we had in our dish," Mike Bambouyani, manager of Pars Cove, told the Sun-Times. While we sympathize with Pars Cove's situation, we sympathize more with the 17 people who have been hospitalized and all those who fell ill. But a lawsuit? Already?