Chipotle’s PR team has hands full as lawsuit emerges

Health officials are probing five new cases of the stomach bug, which have been linked to the restaurant chain. The chain’s PR pros are also dealing with a lawsuit on behalf of a sickened teen.

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It’s a one-two punch that Chipotle’s crisis communications team just didn’t need.

On Monday, company spokesman Chris Arnold said five new cases of E.coli have surfaced in the Midwest. Each of the five people afflicted had consumed food from the Mexican restaurant chain, which has been dealing with an E.coli outbreak in nine states since the fall.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating this latest outbreak in Kansas, Oklahoma and North Dakota.

In a new press statement, Arnold used a classic PR move by gently transitioning to something positive:

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