<p>A Cobb County Golden Corral restaurant blamed for a salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens last year has been sued by some of the victims.</p><p>The buffet-style restaurant voluntarily closed for a time last September after health officials found that at least 23 people had been sickened with fever, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps after eating there.</p><p>The lawsuit, led by plaintiffs Cindy and Rex Horney of Marietta, contends that the restaurant failed to prevent the transmission of salmonella, adequately monitor the sanitary conditions of its food, drink and employees and apply its own food safety policies and procedures.</p><p>Mrs. Horney claims that her salmonella symptoms persisted for weeks and then triggered a rare form of arthritis.</p><p>"For four or five months, I had to sleep upright in a La-Z-Boy," she told The Atlanta Journal-Consitution.</p><p>Horney and the six others are represented by Bill Marler, a Seattle-based attorney who specializes in food contamination personal injury cases, and William Lanham of the Atlanta firm Johnson & Ward. The two attorneys represented several Georgia families who sued White Water park after an E. coli outbreak in 1998.</p><p>Lanham said the plaintiffs hope to settle the cases through mediation as early as October.</p><p>"Litigation is expensive, and if you can resolve these things without going through the court system it's better for everyone involved," he said.</p><p>Adam Appel, the attorney representing Charles Winston, owner of 12 Golden Corral restaurants in metro Atlanta, declined to comment Thursday on the case.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2860804)</p>
