Woman Sickened at Haven School/Merle's Outbreak Files Lawsuit

One of the 30 people who has filed suit against Merle's BBQ Restaurant.

The woman, Beatrice Jenkins, a part-time employee at Haven, said in her complaint that she and her daughter ate the food while volunteering during the conferences.

Jenkins and her daughter both got sick the following morning with severe gastrointestinal illness and had to go to the Evanston Hospital emergency room, according to the complaint, which was briefed on Foodsafetynews.com.

The Evanston Health Department said the cause of the illness was likely poor handling of the food at both the restaurant and the school.

"No temperatures were taken at the time of delivery and the food was not kept heated or refrigerated during the time it was being served," the city said in a release about the incident.