The Reason Habit Burger Is Being Sued By One Customer

What's the deal with Habit Burger, anyway? Are they one of the hottest new burger chains poised to take over the fast food industry, despite being not all that new? (Habit Burger, like one of those "overnight success" rock stars that actually spent a few decades gigging at craft fairs and bar mitzvahs, has actually been around for over 50 years, per the brand.) Some reports would have you believe so, while others show the chain possibly poised at the brink of collapse, or at least struggling a bit.

We can't see into our crystal ball as to whether Habit Grill will become the new Wendy's or the old Burger Chef. We can safely predict, however, that the latest news about one particular Seattle-area franchise certainly won't do much to boost the chain's profile, at least not in a good way. It seems they are being sued by a customer who claims their food made him very ill, indeed ... and he's not the only one.

According to Fast Casual, the Shoreline, Washington Habit Grill has quite a few unhappy customers. Apparently, 23 people reported experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, chills, and bodily aches consistent with norovirus shortly after dining at this franchise over a period of several days in late May. This triggered an investigation by Seattle and King County health officials, but they didn't find anything at the restaurant that could have caused an outbreak. The restaurant did a thorough cleaning and re-opened for business as usual, but this wasn't the end of their troubles.

A Seattle man named Ed Yusen also ate at the Shoreline Habit Grill during the same late May time period and says he became so ill that he later passed out in the bathroom (his own, not Habit Grill's, via Seattle Reports). This caused him to fall down and cut his head, an injury that resulted in a trip to the emergency room and seven staples in his scalp. He's now suing the franchise holder for "abdominal pains and vomiting" as described in his suit. It's early days yet, so we have no clue as to the eventual disposition of this lawsuit, but you know how they say no publicity is bad publicity? Yeah, that doesn't apply to allegations of food poisoning (just ask Chi-Chi's ... oh wait, you can't). This lawsuit is bad news for Habit Grill no matter how it turns out.