People who were sickened by a Mother’s Day brunch at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Ontario last year will be eligible for between $500 and $50,000 compensation, after a proposed agreement was reached that will avert two class-action lawsuits.

The agreement sets out four levels of compensation based on the length of illness.

Halton health department files show 288 people ate the brunch and that agency’s investigation showed about 155 could be included in the class- action. An investigation found salmonella bacteria in the roast beef served by Compton & Greenland, owned by Kate Greenland, at the Mother’s Day buffet May 8, 2005.

The incident has resulted in seven charges laid by Halton’s health department and a $1.1 million suit filed by the RBG. The caterer has also filed a $3- million countersuit against the RBG.