By Aimee Green
agreen@oregonian.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive
For more than a month last summer, the general manager of McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside restaurant asked a pest control company to spray for spiders.
When the company didn’t come out, the manager took it upon himself to clear out spider webs from the restaurant and outdoor dining area along the Riverplace Marina. In the process, he was bitten by what he believed was a venomous brown recluse spider.
That’s all according to a $999,999 lawsuit filed last week by general manager Scott E. Clement against Ecolab, based in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Ecolab spokesman Roman Blahoski declined comment.
The suit states that the restaurant had an ongoing contract with Ecolab for pest elimination services and that included “proactive prevention,” representatives available 24 hours a day for all seven days of the week and a promise to respond to the restaurant within 24 hours if immediate attention was requested.
Scott E. Clement — the general manager of McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside at the Marina — has filed a $999,999 lawsuit, claiming that he was bit while clearing away spider webs. (The Oregonian/File photo)
The suit states that Clement called several times last July and August about the need to spray for spiders but got no in-person response.
While the lawsuit states that it was a brown recluse spider that bit Clement and other Oregonians have claimed they were attacked by the species, experts say Oregon doesn’t have that type of spider here.
The state is home to about 500 species of spiders, with three that can cause serious health problems for humans, once bitten: the hobo, yellow sac and black widow. The Oregon Department of Agriculture says the black widow is probably the most dangerous.
In any case, the spider that bit Clement sent him to the hospital for three days with a fever, nausea and weakness, according to his lawsuit.
He missed more work while recovering, losing $3,000 in wages, two weeks of vacation pay worth $4,500 and a $3,000 bonus, the suit says. His medical bills and related costs total $25,000, his suit says.
Clement is seeking hundreds of thousands more for pain and suffering.
Portland attorney John Spencer Stewart, who is representing Clement, declined to share more details about the case.
Read the lawsuit here.
— Aimee Green
agreen@oregonian.com
o_aimee
