Viva! Mexico ordered to pay $55,000

The charges are the result of an investigation that began in October last year, when approximately 260 people became ill after eating at the restaurant. More than 60 of those reporting illnesses, including Sunnyvale resident Constance Williams-Pennel, who died on Oct. 23, were found to be infected by shigella bacteria.

"We are always concerned when there are food handling violations," Wilson said. "We took this action in this case because there was a great deal of harm to the public."

Although county health department investigators never pinpointed the source of the infection, which is usually spread by fecal matter on unwashed hands, they found other food handling violations including a lack of handwashing facilities or sanitizing solution. The restaurant, which is now operating under the name of Los Potrillos, was closed for a month while the Toros installed a handwashing sink and improved safety procedures.

In addition to the civil penalties, the judgment agreed to by the Toros today includes a permanent injunction preventing them from operating a retail food unless they pass a state food safety test every year for the next three years, and then once every three years for as long as they continue to operate a restaurant.

Most restaurant owners are required to have one person on staff who takes and passes the state food handling test every three years. Friday's charges are the fourth civil suit brought against the Toros as a result of October's outbreak. Two personal injury suits asking for damages and a wrongful death suit filed by the family of Williams-Pennel are pending.<