On Sunday, December 17, 1972, plaintiffs Pat and Dean Minder had been served and eaten a lunch meal at the Cielito Lindo Restaurant. There were nothing unusual about the meal until early evening, Dean Minder had stomachache but he did not have diarrhea or nausea. His stomachache had not improved in three days and Dean even got fever on 20th. His wife, Pat Minder, also felt a little nauseated in the afternoon on the day they had lunch in the restaurant. They both went to hospital on December 26.
After testing the stools, Dr. Jame Vernon McNamara testified that the illness was the result of contaminated food which respondents had eaten in the restaurant. Rodney Allen Hiemstra, the Health inspector, tested the restaurant three times and the result