QDOBA Jalapeño Salmonella Lawsuit, Were You Affected? — Trujillo v. QDOBA Restaurant Corp., No. 3:26-cv-05137

QDOBA Restaurant Corp. is now the target of a putative class action, Trujillo v. QDOBA Restaurant Corp., Case No. 3:26-cv-05137, claiming its jalapeños carried Salmonella and made customers sick nationwide. If you got sick after eating at QDOBA this summer, you weren’t imagining it. Two customers say they fell ill within hours of eating jalapeño-topped orders in Colorado and Oregon. Here’s what the lawsuit claims and what it means for you.

QDOBA Jalapeño Salmonella Lawsuit — Key Facts

Lawsuit Filed	September 11, 2026
Defendants	QDOBA Restaurant Corp.; parent company Butterfly Equity LP; jalapeño supplier Coast Citrus Distributors
Alleged Harm	Salmonella Javiana infection from jalapeños served at QDOBA locations
Law Alleged	Negligence (proposed class action; product liability theory)
Who Is Affected	QDOBA customers nationwide who ate jalapeño-containing menu items before QDOBA pulled the peppers on July 28, 2026
Court & Case Number	U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, No. 3:26-cv-05137-BJC-VET
Plaintiffs’ Counsel	Michael Reese and Charles D. Moore of Reese LLP; Andre Belanger of Poulin Willey Anastopoulo LLC
Current Stage	Complaint filed. No class certified. No trial date set
Lead Plaintiff Deadline	N/A — this is a consumer negligence case, not a securities case
Settlement Status	No settlement. No claim form exists yet
Last Updated	September 19, 2026

Who Is QDOBA and Why Are They Being Sued for Salmonella?

QDOBA is a fast-casual Mexican chain with more than 850 U.S. locations, and it served jalapeños on nearly every menu item — nachos, burritos, bowls, tacos. That made it one of the biggest single points of exposure once contaminated peppers entered the supply chain. The lawsuit doesn’t blame QDOBA for growing the peppers. It blames QDOBA for serving them to customers without warning, even as a multistate outbreak was already being traced back to the same supplier.

What Did QDOBA Do to Customers Between June and August 2026?

Federal investigators linked a multistate Salmonella Javiana outbreak to jalapeños grown in Sinaloa, Mexico, and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors to restaurants nationwide, including QDOBA and Chipotle. Negligence, the legal theory behind this lawsuit, means a company failed to take reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm — here, serving produce the complaint says QDOBA knew or should have known carried a contamination risk.

Plaintiff Nicole Trujillo says she bought nachos with jalapeños from a QDOBA in Aurora, Colorado, on July 31, 2026, and developed nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain within hours. Plaintiff Sherdi Sardari Kerman says she ate a birria burrito bowl with jalapeños at a QDOBA in Portland, Oregon, on July 11, 2026, and came down with severe diarrhea. Both are named plaintiffs seeking to represent a broader class of QDOBA customers. They’re represented by Michael Reese and Charles D. Moore of Reese LLP, along with Andre Belanger of Poulin Willey Anastopoulo LLC.

That timing matters more than it looks. QDOBA has said it stopped serving jalapeños chainwide on July 28, 2026 — but Trujillo’s illness came from an order placed three days after that cutoff date. If that holds up, it raises a real question about how completely the pull-back was enforced across locations. That’s the detail worth watching as this case moves forward.

Are You Part of the QDOBA Salmonella Lawsuit?

Here’s exactly how to know if this case includes you.

• Customers who ate jalapeños at any QDOBA location between roughly mid-June and July 28, 2026
• Anyone who developed diarrhea, fever, or abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours of a QDOBA meal during that window
• People who sought medical care or tested positive for Salmonella after eating at QDOBA
• Those who kept a receipt, app order, or bank statement showing a QDOBA purchase in that timeframe

You likely don’t qualify if you ate at QDOBA but skipped the jalapeños entirely, or if your visit was after July 28, 2026, once the chain says the peppers were gone from every location.

QDOBA Customers Outside Colorado and Oregon — Are You Still Covered?

Yes. This is a nationwide case, not a state-specific one. QDOBA operates in most states, and the outbreak itself spanned 32 states as of the CDC’s latest count. Where you ate doesn’t limit whether the case could apply to you — what matters is whether you ate contaminated jalapeños during the exposure window.

Not sure if you qualify for the QDOBA Salmonella lawsuit? A free consultation with a product liability attorney can help you understand your options before evidence and receipts become harder to track down.

What Are QDOBA Customers Asking the Court to Award?

The complaint seeks damages for the plaintiffs and the proposed class, but there’s no dollar figure to point to yet. No money has been awarded. No claim form exists. This is a proposed class action — the class itself hasn’t even been certified by a judge.

What Could QDOBA Customers Receive If This Case Settles?

Impossible to predict this early. Any eventual recovery would depend on how many people join the class, what the evidence shows about QDOBA’s and Coast Citrus’s conduct, and how settlement talks or a trial play out. Cases like this can take a year or more before money moves. If you’re dealing with real medical bills and lost wages right now, a food poisoning attorney can talk through options separate from the class case, including filing your own claim.

What Should QDOBA Customers Do Right Now?

1. Most people don’t need to do anything to preserve a spot in a potential class — but documenting your case now protects you either way.
2. Save your proof: receipts, app orders, card statements, and anything showing you ordered jalapeños at QDOBA in June or July 2026.
3. Save medical records — ER visits, doctor’s notes, and Salmonella test results if you were tested.
4. Write down your symptoms, when they started, and how long you were sick, while it’s still fresh.
5. Monitor the docket in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Case No. 3:26-cv-05137-BJC-VET, for updates on class certification.
6. If your illness was severe — hospitalization, long-term complications — talk to an attorney about filing your own claim instead of waiting on the class.

Related: Costco Rotisserie Chicken Salmonella Lawsuit, What Consumers Need To Know — another active Salmonella class action working through the same kind of negligence claims.

QDOBA Jalapeño Salmonella Outbreak — Full Timeline

Milestone	Date
Outbreak illness onset period begins	June 19, 2026
Coast Citrus initiates limited jalapeño recall	July 22, 2026
Chipotle switches jalapeño suppliers	July 20, 2026
QDOBA stops serving jalapeños chainwide	July 28, 2026
Trujillo’s alleged exposure (Aurora, CO)	July 31, 2026
Coast Citrus recalls remaining Sinaloa jalapeños	August 5, 2026
Outbreak illness onset period ends	August 2, 2026
Trujillo v. QDOBA Restaurant Corp. filed	September 11, 2026
Next scheduled hearing	UNVERIFIED — not yet scheduled as of this writing
Expected resolution	UNVERIFIED — case is in its earliest stage

That’s less than seven weeks between the last confirmed illness and QDOBA landing in federal court. For a case this new, that’s a fast turnaround — and it usually means the plaintiffs’ firms had the outbreak data lined up well before they filed.

QDOBA Jalapeño Salmonella — Frequently Asked Questions, No. 3:26-cv-05137

Is there a class action lawsuit against QDOBA for Salmonella right now? 

Yes. Trujillo v. QDOBA Restaurant Corp., Case No. 3:26-cv-05137-BJC-VET, was filed September 11, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Do I need to do anything right now to be part of the QDOBA lawsuit?

 Not yet. No class has been certified. Save your receipts and medical records now so you’re ready if and when a class is certified or a settlement is reached.

When will the QDOBA jalapeño case settle? 

There’s no timeline. The complaint was just filed, and cases like this typically take well over a year to reach a settlement or trial, if they get there at all.

Can I file my own lawsuit against QDOBA instead of joining the class?

 Yes, especially if you were hospitalized or had serious complications. An individual claim can sometimes recover more than a class action payout, but it also means hiring your own attorney and carrying your own case.

How will I find out if the QDOBA lawsuit settles? 

Watch the docket for Case No. 3:26-cv-05137-BJC-VET, or check back here — this article gets updated when there’s meaningful movement in the case.

What does “lead plaintiff” mean for the QDOBA case, and why does the deadline matter?

 It doesn’t apply here. Lead plaintiff deadlines are a securities-fraud concept, for investors picking a representative for the class. This is a product liability case, so there’s no equivalent deadline.

What specific laws does QDOBA allegedly violate? 

The complaint is built on negligence — the claim that QDOBA and its co-defendants failed to take reasonable care to prevent a foreseeable risk of contaminated food reaching customers.

How much could QDOBA customers get if this case settles? 

No one can say yet. No settlement fund exists, and the amount would depend on how many people join the class and what the evidence shows once discovery gets underway.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. Facts verified against the FDA’s outbreak investigation page, the CDC’s outbreak update, and Law360’s court reporting on September 19, 2026. Last Updated: September 19, 2026.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state and individual circumstances differ. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified attorney.

Sources Used in This QDOBA Jalapeño Salmonella Article

• FDA — Outbreak Investigation of Salmonella: Jalapeño (August 2026): https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-salmonella-jalapeno-august-2026
• CDC — Investigation Update: Salmonella Outbreak, August 2026: https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/outbreaks/javiana-08-26/investigation.html
• FDA — 2026 Recalls of Food Products Associated with Fresh Jalapeños from Sinaloa, Mexico, Distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors: https://www.fda.gov/safety/major-product-recalls/2026-recalls-food-products-associated-fresh-jalapenos-sinaloa-mexico-and-distributed-coast-citrus
• Law360 — “Qdoba Sued Over Jalapenos Tied To Salmonella Outbreak,” September 11, 2026: https://www.law360.com/articles/2524414/qdoba-sued-over-jalapenos-tied-to-salmonella-outbreak