Brookline Mother Suing Chipotle After Son Became ‘Violently Ill’

The 16-year-old ate at the Cleveland Circle location at the center of the norovirus outbreak.

A Brookline mother is suing Chipotle after her 16-year-old son became “violently ill” after eating at the burrito chain’s Cleveland Circle location. The City of Boston closed the restaurant after it had been linked to nearly 140 cases of norovirus among Boston College students.

The woman is suing the Denver-based company for negligence and did not specify any monetary damages, reports WCVB. According to the lawsuit, her son was so sickened, he had to be taken to Boston Children’s Hospital.

“The number of possible cases in such a short period of time is something I’ve never really seen before,” lawyer Bill Marler said.

Chipotle took out full-page ads in the GlobeHerald, and Providence Journal this week apologizing to customers and outlining its new food safety plan. “As a chef, nothing is more important to me than serving my guests food that is safe, delicious, and wholesome,” chairman and co-CEO Steve Ells wrote. “But recent incidents, an E. coli outbreak that sickened 52 people and a norovirus outbreak that sickened approximately 140 people at a single Chipotle restaurant in Boston, have shown us that we need to do better, much better.”

“The fact that anyone has become ill eating at Chipotle is completely unacceptable to me and I am deeply sorry,” Ells wrote.