• KFC said it would not comment further on the matter as it is now on appeal.
• “It is a real pity that they will not abide by the umpire’s decision.”

• KFC staff didn’t follow food rules – judge

Assholes should just accept that they had a dodgy store and bloody well pay up.No appeals no more bullshit.Accept the umpires decision and move on.This precious little girl was seven at the time and this has gone on since 2005…I’m disgusted…The owner of the actual store was quoted as saying he had trouble making workers adhere to health and safety rules…Tough Luck loser!!! This could have been your child now in a wheelchair!

I hope the family find some comfort and all the best to young Monika...

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KFC has been ordered to pay $8 million damages by a judge who found a young Sydney girl was left severely brain damaged after eating a Twister chicken wrap.

April 27, 2012

The family of Monika Samaan successfully sued the fast food giant, claiming the source of her salmonella poisoning was a Twister.

Her father told the NSW Supreme Court he bought the wrap on October 24, 2005, at the KFC outlet at Villawood, in Sydney’s west.

While Monika, her parents and her brother ended up in hospital with salmonella poisoning, the then seven-year-old was left severely brain-damaged and is effectively now a quadriplegic.

Today, Justice Stephen Rothman ordered KFC to pay $8 million damages plus legal costs.

Last Friday, he found KFC had breached its duty of care to the young girl.

KFC has indicated it will appeal.

In a statement, the family’s lawyer George Vlahakis said the family had been very relieved that the battle was over but was now very distressed by the appeal announcement.

“Monika’s severe brain damage and severe disability has already exhausted the very limited resources of the family,” he said.

“Monika is now a big girl and they are finding it increasingly difficult to lift her and to look after her basic needs as well as look after Monika’s younger siblings.

“The compensation ordered is very much needed.

“KFC have to date been determined that Monika does not receive a cent.”

KFC staff didn’t follow food rules – judge

By Nick Perry

AAP

April 22, 2012

STAFF at a Sydney KFC restaurant where a young girl was left severely brain damaged after eating a Twister wrap used to throw food around the kitchen and broke hygiene rules.

The family of Monika Samaan successfully sued KFC, claiming the then seven-year-old contracted salmonella after eating a chicken wrap in Villawood in 2005.

Judge Stephen Rothman found in favour of the family in the NSW Supreme Court last Friday.

In his judgment, Judge Rothman said strict food safety rules were not being followed by staff employed at the fast-food outlet at the time Monika fell ill.

He said KFC had breached its duty of care to the young girl, who is now a quadriplegic and severely brain damaged.

“But for the negligence of the staff, the harm to Monika would not have occurred,” Judge Rothman said in his judgement, which was published on the NSW Supreme Court website at the weekend.

The manager in charge of the Villawood KFC in 2005 told the court that getting staff to follow food safety procedures was a problem.

Some staff members also testified that they used to throw food around as a joke, saw chicken fall to the floor and people handling food without gloves on.

“The evidence was consistent that the standards set by KFC were not met during the latter half of 2005,” Judge Rothman said.

“The contamination has occurred because of the failure of one or more employees of KFC to adhere to that procedure.”

An assessment of the restaurant conducted at the time Monika ate the Twister found it was operating at “breakdown” level and scored just 51 out of a possible 100 points for criteria including cleanliness, the court heard.

Cleaning checklists were apparently not being used by staff and many were not following hand-washing procedures.

Judge Rothman said some staff might not have been fully aware of the potential consequences of not following the strict procedures around food safety.

“Nevertheless, the conduct of the employee was negligent and KFC, as the employer, is vicariously liable for the negligence,” he said.

KFC has vowed to appeal the decision, a move the Samaan family has criticised.

“They (KFC) represent themselves as great sponsors of cricket in Australia,” the family’s lawyer George Vlahakis said in a statement.

“It is a real pity that they will not abide by the umpire’s decision.”

Family of Monika Samaan, who became ill after eating KFC Twister, wins court case

By Nick Perry

AAP

April 20, 2012

Family wins case after girl, 7, suffered brain damage

KFC says evidence shows it did not cause tragedy-Vows to appeal the NSW Supreme Court decision

A SYDNEY father who claimed his daughter was left severely brain damaged from salmonella poisoning after eating a KFC Twister has won a court battle against the fast-food chain.

The family of Monika Samaan brought a multimillion-dollar compensation bid against KFC in the New South Wales Supreme Court, claiming the then seven-year-old became ill after eating the chicken wrap in Sydney’s west in 2005.

KFC denied the claim but this afternoon Justice Stephen Rothman found in favour of the family in the NSW Supreme Court.

KFC has vowed to appeal the ruling.

In a statement, the restaurant said the case was clearly tragic but they were “deeply disappointed and surprised” by Judge Rothman’s decision.

“We believe the evidence showed KFC did not cause this tragedy and, after reviewing the judgment and seeking further advice from our lawyers, we have decided to appeal Justice Rothman’s decision,” KFC Australia’s chief corporate affairs officer Sally Glover said.

“We feel deeply for Monika and the Samaan family, however, we also have a responsibility to defend KFC’s reputation as a provider of safe, high-quality food.”

In their statement, KFC did not refer to the judge having made any assessment yet of the damages to be awarded to the family.

During a four-week trial in 2010, Monika’s father Amanwial Samaan told the court he and his wife Hanna, son Abanou and Monika all fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after sharing the Twister.

Monika, who was in a coma for six months and in hospital for seven, is effectively now a quadriplegic and severely brain damaged.

She took the NSW Supreme Court action through her father.

KFC’s lawyer, Ian Barker QC, argued there “never was a shared Twister” because there was no sales data to prove the family purchased it.

“You did not tell anyone at the hospital, when you were there between October 27 and 29, that you had shared a KFC Twister that Monday,” Mr Barker said in the NSW Supreme Court in July 2010.

“Because there was no direct question at me,” Mr Samaan replied.

He also accused Mr Samaan of thinking KFC “might be an easy target”.

But the family’s barrister, Anthony Bartley SC, presented evidence about KFC food practices that were “disturbing and unsettling”.

“If the store was particularly busy, then even if chicken dropped on the floor… it was on some occasions simply put back into the burger station from where it had fallen,” he said.

He told the court Monika, who had been a bright girl, could now feed herself to a limited extent but wears a nappy and goes to a special school.

Her father had given up his job as a forklift driver so he could help look after her.

The judgment was not listed for delivery at the NSW Supreme Court today but a decision was handed down unexpectedly about 4.30pm, a KFC spokesperson said.

KFC said it would not comment further on the matter as it is now on appeal.

KFC chicken Twister in $10m lawsuit

July 20, 2010

A FATHER suing KFC for more than $10 million over a Chicken Twister he claimed left his daughter brain damaged told a court yesterday his family had eaten other chicken meals that week.

Monika Samaan, who was left severely brain damaged, is suing the fast food giant through her father Aman-wial, claiming the source of her salmonella poisoning was a Twister bought at a Villawood outlet, in Sydney, in October 2005.

Mr Samaan told the Supreme Court yesterday his family ate chicken at least three times that week, including a schnitzel he had cooked himself. He said he was always “very clean” when he cooked chicken at home.

“I do not think my chicken schnitzel that I cooked at home caused my family illness because my wife did not eat this meal but my mother ate it and didn’t feel unwell.”

He said he, wife Hanna, son Abanou and Monika, then seven, all fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after sharing the Twister. KFC denies the source of Monika’s poisoning was one of its products.