Chipotle Mexican Grill is facing a lawsuit from a Minnesota woman who alleges that a burrito bowl purchased at one of the chain's restaurants in the state caused a severe Salmonella infection that left her hospitalized with sepsis.

Kristen Behne filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, accusing Chipotle of strict product liability, negligence, and violations of Minnesota food-safety law. She is seeking more than $75,000 in compensatory damages. Under strict product liability claims, plaintiffs are not required to prove negligence — only that the food product was contaminated and caused their illness — a legal standard that has been used in numerous foodborne-illness cases against restaurant chains.

According to the lawsuit, Behne consumed a chicken burrito bowl from a Chipotle location in Roseville, Minnesota, on June 24. The meal included guacamole, Fresh Tomato Salsa, and Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa — all of which the complaint claims contained raw jalapeño peppers.

Days after eating the meal, Behne developed fever, chills, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and severe diarrhea, the complaint alleges. She eventually sought emergency care, was admitted to the hospital, and was diagnosed with sepsis. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in which the body's immune response to an infection damages its own tissues and organs, requiring immediate medical intervention.

"Three days later she was in a hospital bed, febrile, tachycardic and septic — a life-threatening complication of the Salmonella infection caused by Chipotle's grossly contaminated food," the lawsuit states. "She has not been the same since."

The Minnesota Department of Health classified Behne as a confirmed case linked to a multistate outbreak that has sickened at least 345 people. "MDH recorded her illness as outbreak-associated, identified the outbreak by name as the Salmonella Javiana outbreak, and classified Plaintiff as a confirmed case," the complaint notes.

According to court documents, Behne continues to suffer the effects of the illness: "Plaintiff's health has not returned to its pre-illness baseline. She continues to experience the effects of her acute Salmonella infection and her septic episode, and is at increased risk of well-recognized post-infectious sequelae, including reactive arthritis and post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome."

The legal action comes as health officials investigate a multistate Salmonella outbreak tied to jalapeño peppers. Chipotle announced Tuesday that it had removed jalapeños from some restaurants after health officials linked the outbreak to recalled peppers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 345 people across 27 states had been sickened, including 36 who were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. The CDC estimates that Salmonella causes approximately 1.35 million infections annually in the United States, with fresh produce being one of the most common vehicles for transmission.

Epidemiologic and traceback evidence identified jalapeño peppers grown in Sinaloa, Mexico, and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors as the source of the outbreak.

The CDC said both Chipotle and QDOBA stopped serving the affected peppers after being notified. Because the products were removed, the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated they do not consider the restaurants to pose an ongoing risk to consumers from this outbreak.

The case adds to Chipotle's broader history of food-safety scrutiny. In 2020, the company agreed to pay a $25 million criminal fine — the largest ever for a food-safety case — to resolve charges related to outbreaks of norovirus and other pathogens at its restaurants between 2015 and 2018. Chipotle has since implemented enhanced food-safety protocols, though the current outbreak involves ingredients supplied through a distribution chain shared with other restaurant chains.

Chipotle and an attorney for Behne could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.