Owner will pay $40,000 verdict in urine-tainted food case
OMAHA — The owner of a restaurant that served food tainted by an employee’s spit and urine has agreed to pay $40,000 to a Sidney police officer and his family who ate the food.
A Cheyenne County jury awarded the money to Lt. Keith Andrew and his family earlier this month. The restaurant had served them food in October 2005 that a Taco Bell employee had urinated and spit in.
Initially, a spokesman for North Platte-based Mid Plains Food and Lodging, which owns the KFC/Taco Bell, said the company might appeal.
One of Andrew’s lawyers, Andy Snyder of Scottsbluff, said Thursday that the company and its insurer had decided to pay the judgment.
Snyder said his client is an investigator who doesn’t regularly wear a uniform, but the employee knew Andrew from years of contact with Sidney Police.
Snyder said more than half the staff of the restaurant had criminal records in October 2005, and the managers knew of prior instances of employees spitting or urinating in coleslaw.
The worker who prepared the tainted food for Andrew’s family was later fired for missing work.
The worker also pleaded guilty in March 2007 to violating the Nebraska Pure Food Act and was fined $100, according to Cheyenne County Court records. The prosecution was for the same incident described in the lawsuit.
A Cheyenne County jury awarded the money to Lt. Keith Andrew and his family earlier this month. The restaurant had served them food in October 2005 that a Taco Bell employee had urinated and spit in.
Initially, a spokesman for North Platte-based Mid Plains Food and Lodging, which owns the KFC/Taco Bell, said the company might appeal.
One of Andrew’s lawyers, Andy Snyder of Scottsbluff, said Thursday that the company and its insurer had decided to pay the judgment.
Snyder said his client is an investigator who doesn’t regularly wear a uniform, but the employee knew Andrew from years of contact with Sidney Police.
Snyder said more than half the staff of the restaurant had criminal records in October 2005, and the managers knew of prior instances of employees spitting or urinating in coleslaw.
The worker who prepared the tainted food for Andrew’s family was later fired for missing work.
The worker also pleaded guilty in March 2007 to violating the Nebraska Pure Food Act and was fined $100, according to Cheyenne County Court records. The prosecution was for the same incident described in the lawsuit.
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