PHILADELPHIA – Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle has hit back at the claims of a Philadelphia man who alleged he got food poisoning after dining at the company’s Wyncote location.
Plaintiff Malik Pitts initially filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Feb. 21, and defendant Chipotle Mexican Grill then removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on March 13.
Pitts alleged in his lawsuit that he experienced “severe and disabling injuries” such as “food poisoning, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, epidurals for his back pain and seizures” after eating a chicken burrito at the Chipotle’s restaurant location in Wyncote on Dec. 20, 2018.
Pitts claimed the restaurant was wholly negligent in its preparation of the food.
On April 24, Chipotle filed an answer to Pitts’ complaint, denying all of its claims in their entirety and asserting 20 separate affirmative defenses against the complaint.
Among them, the defenses included the plaintiff’s complaint failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the plaintiff’s claims being barred by the doctrines of laches or waiver and of estoppel and/or waiver, along with the plaintiff’s claims, being barred and/or substantially reduced due to plaintiff’s own contributory negligence.
For one count of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000.
The plaintiff is represented by Jay M. Leffler of Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy, in Philadelphia.
The defendant is represented by Mark Allen Lockett of Bonner Kiernan Trebach & Crociata, also in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-01426
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com