Chicago woman says eating a Wendy’s cheeseburger led to nearly $100,000 in medical bills — and she’s suing. How other fast food suits have fared

The food, the suit says, was “not fit for the uses and purposes intended — human consumption.”

Douglas alleges the food, which she says she received in a sealed DoorDash delivery bag, resulted in her contracting intestinal infection, acute infectious colitis and several other digestive illnesses. A summary of her medical bills, attached to the court filing, totals $93,578, including two hospital stays.

The case was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Wendy’s requested that it be moved to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Aug. 20, 2026. The fast food chain also demanded a trial by jury.

Wendy’s did not respond to Moneywise’s request for comment on the suit.

Fast food lawsuits

Douglas’ case joins a long line of high-profile lawsuits against fast-food chains. The biggest of these came in 1992, when Stella Liebeck sued McDonald’s after spilling coffee that was kept at dangerously hot temperatures on her lap, resulting in severe burns. A jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages. (The totals were later reduced in a settlement.)

McDonald’s was sued again in 2023 by the family of a 7-year-old who received a second-degree burn when a Chicken McNugget fell on her thigh. The jury in that case awarded the family $800,000.

And in 1993, the parent company of Jack in the Box was sued after four children died of an E. Coli outbreak that was the result of the restaurant serving undercooked hamburger patties. Approximately 600 additional people got sick because of the burgers and 90 separate lawsuits were filed against the chain, which settled the cases for amounts ranging up to $7 million.

Of course, some cases are less serious. In 2023, Buffalo Wild Wings was sued, with the plaintiff claiming the company’s boneless wings used “false and deceptive marketing” because they are not actually deboned chicken wings. The chain mocked the suit in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing “It’s true. Our boneless wings are all white meat chicken. Our hamburgers contain no ham. Our buffalo wings are 0% buffalo.”

Losing ground

The Wendy’s lawsuit comes as the fast-food chain has seen six consecutive quarters of declining sales. The restaurant is in the midst of a turnaround plan that will see it close hundreds of locations, reducing its domestic footprint by 5% to 6%.

At the same time, Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is reportedly considering making an offer to take Wendy’s private. Shares of Wendy’s stock have fallen nearly 25% in the past year.