Peanut Problems Compound

As the salmonella recall of products containing peanut butter continues to expand, a Washington state lawyer is calling on the company with Georgia operations to pay funeral costs for the six people believed to have died from the outbreak.

That comes as Virginia based Peanut Corporation of America announced it's laying off the majority of it's workforce.

Bill Marler filed suit against PCA. The Seattle based lawyer represents the family of a person believed to have died as a result of consuming salmonella laced products processed at the Georgia's company's plant. In addition to asking PCA to cover hospital and funeral costs for those sickened by the outbreak, Marler also wants to investigate claims crack in the peanut processing machinery led to the salmonella contamination.

"We'll be asking the court to allow us entry into the facility so we can have our experts doing our own investigation as to why this outbreak occurred."

State and Federal health officials are currently investigating the cause of the outbreak.

Over 180 products, from snack crackers to protein bars, have been recalled.

Marler's entry into the case signals the large size and scope of this outbreak. He specializes in class action food borne illness cases, and litigated the 2006 E. Coli outbreak in spinach. California farming company executives literally cursed his name during that outbreak, which crippled the California agricultural industry. Marler says there are similarities in the two cases.

"Death cases in spinach were four, this one six. Yet, the other people who become ill, even though the numbers are bigger, the severity of the illnesses for salmonella tend to be substantially less, fortunately."

Marler has negotiated similar settlements for millions of dollars.

The potential cost, and current investigation, might be one reason PCA laid off a majority of it's workforce at the Blakely plant. Workers showed up to the plant yesterday to locked doors. It was only today the company president announced through a statement just three managers would remain on staff to aid the investigation. It's unclear exactly how many workers were let go, although the plant employs between 45-50 people, according to the local chamber of commerce.