“A Simple Milkshake Shouldn’t Kill”: Families Sue After Listeria Outbreak Claims 14 Lives

The food safety law firm Marler Clark filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, against the restaurant chain Frugals. The suit alleges that contaminated milkshakes produced by Frugals caused a fatal Listeria infection. It represents the family of a Washington state woman who died after consuming a milkshake from a Frugals location.

In fact, Marler Clark had earlier filed lawsuits in August 2023 in Washington state courts, including one on behalf of the family of Charles Roberson, a Washington man who died in August 2023 after drinking a milkshake from the Tacoma Frugals. The new August 12, 2025, filing marks the first federal lawsuit tied to the outbreak and expands the claims to cover families affected by the broader Sysco Imperial/Lyons ReadyCare milkshake contamination.

The outbreak was investigated by the Washington State Department of Health and the Pierce County Health Department. Testing revealed that milkshake machines at the Tacoma location were improperly cleaned, and samples tested positive for the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes. Frugals voluntarily stopped using the machines on August 8, 2023.

Health officials confirmed six people were infected, all hospitalized, and three died. No illnesses were reported outside Washington, and other Frugals locations were not implicated in the outbreak.

Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogenic bacterium that causes listeriosis, a serious infection that can be life-threatening, particularly for people aged 65 years or older, those with weakened immune systems, and pregnant individuals. In pregnant people, it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or severe infection in newborns. Typical symptoms in others include fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Symptoms usually appear within two weeks of exposure, but may take as long as 70 days to develop.

A Broader Outbreak Beyond Washington

Further investigations revealed that the outbreak was not confined to Washington. In 2025, a nationwide recall by Lyons Magnus of its Lyons ReadyCare and Sysco Imperial milkshake products expanded the scope of contamination, affecting consumers in multiple states. The federal lawsuit filed in August 2025 directly ties these recalled products to the ongoing illnesses and deaths, showing that the outbreak extended beyond the initial Tacoma Frugals source.

The scale of the outbreak, spanning 21 states, causing 42 illnesses and 14 fatalities, underscores its severity. The CDC, FDA, and state partners continue their investigation into the outbreak's full scope and contributing factors. Frugals has not yet issued a public statement regarding the specific allegations in the newly filed lawsuit.

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