‘Fishing expeditions’ threaten listeriosis class action

The class action brought against Tiger Brands following the listeriosis outbreak caused by some of its products could take years before it finally gets to court. A News24 report notes in February, the court determined that Richard Spoor Attorneys could go ahead with the class action, representing more than 1 000 people affected by the listeriosis outbreak in 2017 and 2018 that claimed more than 200 lives. In April, Tiger Brands received the summons for the class action from the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg). Spoor last week said the class action could be delayed ‘for years’ as Tiger Brands had issued subpoenas against food-testing laboratories to obtain information about the identities of people or parties who submitted samples for testing listeriosis and the results of those tests during the period of the outbreak. Two laboratories – Aspirata and Deltamune – have indicated that they would oppose this as the information is confidential. In a worst-case scenario, the matter could go all the way to the Constitutional Court, which could take years, Spoor said. Tiger Brands has lodged an application in the High Court to compel the disclosure of the documents. ‘This is a fishing expedition,’ Spoor said. ‘There is no reason to believe that anyone other than (Tiger Brands) is responsible for the outbreak.’ Spoor said his firm might participate in the litigation of the matter between Tiger Brands and the laboratories to speed up the matter.