From: "Seymour, Janet I - WHS" <Janet.Seymour@wisconsinhistory.org> Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 14:54:50 -0600 Subject: RE: Food at Public Gatherings Message-ID: <488E289A5C909049B0E55F6B651B5B35F90D47BBD7@MEWMAD0PC01G02.accounts.wistate.us>
List Serve members - this response is from the Director of the WHS Museum i
n Madison. I thought I would share her comments with you. Janet
Can the organization get sued if someone gets sick - yep, they can. And so
can the individuals who prepared and/or served the food - esp. if it can b
e proved that there was negligence involved.
Should the event be catered? - I would (and we do) - It does lessen the li
ability for the organization - though they may not be entirely off the hook
, if a person is really intent on getting a settlement. At this point it b
ecomes a question of possibility and probability. W/ catering, is it possi
ble that someone would sue the organization (as opposed to the caterer) if
they got sick - yes, it is possible, but what is the probability? The prob
ability is small - after all, the caterer will have insurance (and maybe de
eper pockets?) so that company would be more likely to be sued than the sma
ll historical society/museum, ....
Janet Seymour
Field Services Representative - Northern Region
Wisconsin Historical Society
Voice: 715-836-2250
Collecting, Preserving, and Sharing Stories Since 1846
Review past messages at: http://listserve.uwec.edu/localhistory/
________________________________
From: localhistory-request@listserve.uwec.edu [ [localhistory-request@listser
ve.uwec.edu] On Behalf Of Kathy Laakso [dchs@douglashistory.org]
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 2:04 PM
To: localhistory@listserve.uwec.edu
Subject: Food at Public Gatherings
One of our members had a thought and asked me to ask ListServe this questio
n:
When a society or museum has an annual meeting, open to the public, and ser
ves potluck that is provided by the Board of Directors and someone gets sic
k, can the museum or society get in trouble? Should it be catered?
(…oh, the good old days when if someone said the word, sue, they were usu
ally addressing a woman...)
Kathy Laakso
Douglas County Historical Society