Giant Group of Lawyers Falls Ill After a Chinatown Banquet

A group of about 250 lawyers and law students attended a banquet at Joy Tsin Lau restaurant in Chinatown on February 27, as a fundraiser for Temple University's Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. And, according to a report from Philly.com's Sam Wood, almost 100 of those attendees were hit with food poisoning after the meal.

One of those lawyers' "freaking terrible" experience is described as "a combination of nonstop puking and explosive diarrhea [that] kept him bedridden for four days."

Despite several previous problematic health inspection reports for the restaurant and multiple accounts from banquet guests — including a number of Yelp reviews claiming that some people landed in the emergency room — Wood cites a state law that prohibits Health Department officials from sharing the results of their investigation into the incident.

Though that law prohibited more specific comment, a Health Department spokesperson did issue the seemingly damning confirmation that "a 'food source' had been identified for the outbreak."

Still, restaurant owner Chi Mabel Chan has other theories about the illnesses. "Maybe they got cold or drank too much," she told Philly.com.