KENOSHA COUNTY — A class action lawsuit has been filed against McEssy Investment Company — the licensee that owns and operates the McDonald's in Paddock Lake — over the worms in drinks story TMJ4 News broke back in April.
Trial Lawyers of Wisconsin filed the suit in Kenosha County Circuit Court on May 27th — citing customer complaints, employee statements documented by the Kenosha County Health Department, and the department's inspection records. The lawsuit specifically references TMJ4's social media posts and articles as part of its case.
"We thank you so much for running the story, and that's essentially what we want — we want people to come forward, and we wanna know how many people this affected," said Attorney Michael Karp.
The complaint alleges that management had actual knowledge of worms emerging from a sewage receptacle beneath the drive-thru beverage machine — and kept serving drinks anyway.
Watch: Lawyers say TMJ4 coverage led to class action lawsuit against Paddock Lake McDonald's over worms in drinks
"Worms were served to customers at a McDonald's drive-through — these were served to mothers, these were served to children," Karp said. "We want answers, and we want fair and prompt compensation for anybody that went through that drive-through and drank a contaminated drink."
Attorney Robert Welcenbach says since the lawsuit was filed — 10 to 12 additional people have come forward saying they felt sick and nauseous after visiting that McDonald's — and are now beginning to link their illness to the contaminated drinks.
"We're really reaching out to the public — did other people experience this? If they did — contact us," Welcenbach said.
The class action covers all Wisconsin customers who purchased beverages at the Paddock Lake McDonald's from April 1, 2026, through the date the machine was remediated.
TMJ4 News has reached out to McEssy Investment Company for comment multiple times since April. The company has not responded.
If you believe you were affected, contact Trial Lawyers of Wisconsin at 414-299-6378.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
