George Calombaris Has Now Copped A Lawsuit Over A Food Poisoning Outbreak

Not only did he suffer the pure indignity of being caught out underpaying a little over a third of his 430 restaurant staff to the tune of a cool $2.6million, not only did he maybe probably almost definitely shove a 19-year-old fan at the A-League Grand Final resulting in police charging him with one count of common assault, but now he’s got this to contend with as well.

George’s Hellenic Republic restaurant is being sued over a mass-food poisoning incident that left one man seriously ill.

The incident occurred back in 2014 on Mother’s Day at Hellenic Republic’s Kew restaurant, in Melbourne’s inner east. On that day around 90 people – out of the just over 300 who ate there from a set menu – reported falling ill afterwards. It was later discovered that a staff member was the likely source of a norovirus contamination in the food, causing a widespread outbreak of gastroenteritis. The incident was so serious that it forced Hellenic Republic to close down for 24 hours as Victorian Department of Health officials conducted their investigation.

One man, a North Fitzroy resident by the name of David Schreuder, is now suing both the Kew restaurant, and Calombaris’ overseeing Made Establishment group, seeking damages for the illness he suffered as a result of eating the tainted tucker. Schreuder’s writ – filed with the County Court in early May – claims the food left him severely and violently ill with a case of norovirus encephalitis. The writ claims that serving the dud food was negligent, and represented a breach of contract with the diners.

The amount of damages Schreuder is seeking from both Hellenic Republic and Made Establishment was not specified, and neither Calombaris’ company nor representatives for Schreuder were willing to offer comment to the media about the case.

Christ alive, George. Have you considered moving to the woods and hiding forever? Because now might be a good time to start packin’.