Shareholders Sue Chipotle For Deceiving Them Over Food Safety Issues

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After Chipotle had an extremely rough week where rats fell from the ceiling and a restaurant closed due to norovirus, things don’t appear to be looking up.

FOX31 reports that shareholders have filed a class action lawsuit against the burrito chain for deceiving them with “misleading information” about the status of Chipotle’s food safety problems. While the franchise had claimed to be past the major food health problems that plagued (pun intended) their restaurants in 2015, events of this past week have begun to prove otherwise.

Chipotle stocks have dropped nearly $60 per share since news of the norovirus outbreak broke, and investors now believe they bought their shares at “inflated prices” based on false assurances that Chipotle had rid its restaurants of major food safety issues.

The class action lawsuit is seeking reparations for losses incurred as a result of the events that transpired in the past week. The actual number can’t be estimated yet due to investors still being able to join the lawsuit.

Chipotle declined to comment on the pending lawsuit, but a spokesperson for the company told FOX31 that “a lawsuit is simply allegation and is proof of nothing.”