Can I Sue a Chicago Restaurant for An Allergic Reaction?

 Posted on February 07, 2025 in Personal Injury

As many as 33 million Americans have food allergies, which translates to one in 10 adults and about one in 13 children. More than half of all adults with food allergies have experienced a severe reaction, while about 42 percent of children with food allergies have had a severe reaction. Those with food allergies rely on restaurant staff members to provide accurate information about whether the foods they are allergic to are in a specific dish.   

Restaurants must also take every reasonable precaution to avoid cross-contamination. A customer can suffer a severe, even fatal, allergic reaction when the staff in a restaurant are careless or negligent. In such a situation, the restaurant owner, staff, and/or management may be held liable for injuries or death through a personal injury or wrongful death claim.

If you or a loved one had a severe allergic reaction - after questioning staff about the ingredients in a particular dish and letting them know you were allergic to a specific food – contacting an experienced Chicago, IL personal injury attorney is extremely important.

What Foods Are Most Likely to Cause Allergic Reactions?

While many foods may cause allergic reactions in different people, the foods that most commonly cause food allergies include:

• Peanuts
• Shellfish (crab, shrimp, lobster)
• Other types of fish
• Tree nuts like cashews, walnuts, and almonds
• Milk and other dairy products
• Wheat
• Soy
• Eggs

While we tend to hear the most news about peanut allergies, shellfish is the number one food allergy among adults and children.

Do Restaurants Have a Responsibility to Customers with Food Allergies?

In Illinois, restaurants are legally required to display allergen awareness notices that tell consumers how to report food allergy information to a server. The notices also tell servers how to communicate food allergy information to cooks, chefs, the person in charge of the restaurant, or the certified food protection manager. Multi-state food franchises require notices of food allergies to be displayed in the establishment or clearly stated on menus.  

While the person with the food allergy has a responsibility to clearly communicate information about the allergy to the server, the restaurant has a responsibility to take reasonable precautions to protect those with allergies and to provide accurate information about potential allergenic ingredients present in their dishes.

All restaurant workers must be educated on avoiding cross-contamination and food allergies, as well as on what an allergic reaction looks like and how to treat it. Restaurants should also have an emergency plan in place to deal with customers who have severe allergic reactions. If a person with a severe food allergy eats a food he or she is allergic to, anaphylactic shock can result. This is a life-threatening medical emergency.

Can You Sue the Restaurant Responsible for Your Allergic Reaction?

You must prove duty of care, breach of duty of care, causation, and damages in order to file a lawsuit against a restaurant that caused your allergic reaction. The very fact that the restaurant served you indicates a duty of care. Once you disclose your food allergy to the server, the restaurant has a duty of care to provide you with accurate information regarding the food.

The restaurant also had a duty to make accommodations to prevent an allergic reaction and act reasonably if something went wrong. If the restaurant did not do all these things, then it breached its duty of care. From this point, you must show that the food you were served caused your allergic reaction and that the allergic reaction caused you physical harm and financial loss.  

Contact a Chicago, IL Personal Injury Lawyer

If you told your server that you were severely allergic to a food, yet you were served a dish that caused a severe allergic reaction, you must speak to a knowledgeable Chicago, IL personal injury attorney from Winters Salzetta O'Brien & Richardson, LLC. It is important that you carefully document everything pertaining to your allergic reaction to help your attorney build a strong case on your behalf. Call 312-236-6324 to schedule your free consultation.