The first lawsuit has been filed as a

result of an E. coli outbreak on the Fond du Lac Lake Superior

Chippewa reservation near Cloquet earlier this summer.

Band member Bob Danielson has sued

Jim-N-Jo’s Northland Katering, which provided the food at three

events in July at which people got sick, including an elder’s picnic.

Danielson, 62, said he was hospitalized for a day.

He filed suit Aug. 28 in state court

in Carlton County and is seeking compensation for medical expenses

and loss of wages.

"I thought somebody needs to call

some attention to this," Danielson said. "Put the fear in

somebody, or make sure that things are done right from here on out

before somebody gets dead."

The Minnesota Department of Health is

investigating whether it came from ingredients in a potato salad that

Danielson ate at an elder’s picnic, where 20 to 60 people likely

became ill.

The owner of the catering company

declined to comment.

Danielson’s attorney, Bill Marler,

said E. coli 0157 is a deadly pathogen.

"It shouldn’t be in our food,"

Marler said. "And it certainly shouldn’t be in potato salad at

an elder’s picnic."

Also in July, 15 people in Minnesota

were also sickened by a different strain of E. coli that was traced

to several Applebee’s restaurants. A lawsuit has also been filed in

that case.

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