It didn't take long and it fits right into the pattern set by other recent disasters in this country. A class action lawsuit is being launched against Maple Leaf Foods, after evidence surfaced this weekend that the
company's Toronto plant was the source of a fatal listeria outbreak in tainted meats.
Twelve deaths - including 11 in Ontario - have been tied to the products, and 26 other cases have been confirmed nationwide. It didn't take long for the lawyers to get involved.
The suit will be launched in four provinces where the cases have been most notorious - Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It's being shepherded by Montreal lawyer Tony Merchant, who hopes to go after the company for the ailment.
It's still not clear how much the suit might be worth, but it could potentially be in the millions. Merchant's firm will now be trying to sign up those who feel they have a claim against the food giant. The company has acknowledged the recall and clean-up will cost it $20 million - and that's before any legal action.
It's the latest in a long series of litigations that have hit companies unlucky enough to have been at the centre of a public storm. It took less than a week for a class action suit to be suggested for the
victims of the Sunrise Propane disaster, and it was announced Monday that several of those suits have now been combined into one.
Other well known cases in recent months include
Menu Foods, over the contamination of dog food that wound up killing several pets and sickening many others.
A security breach by
TJ Maxx, the company that owns HomeSense and Winners, also spurred legal action, after the sensitive information of thousands of customers was successfully stolen by thieves.
A class action suit isn't an automatic guarantee of money. It must first be approved by a judge and if the courts turn it down, it won't be allowed to proceed.
Find out more about class action suits here.