Updated at 11:50 a.m. Sept. 15, 2015
Ten days after recalling Salmonella-tainted cucumbers, San Diego-based Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce was sued twice locally — for personal injury and wrongful death — and once in Minnesota.
In separate complaints filed Monday in San Diego Superior Court, A&W is accused of illegally distributing tainted cucumbers that killed a 99-year-old San Diego woman and sickened a Bakersfield wife so much that she thought she was dying.
The first wrongful-death case involving A&W cucumbers was filed by Ron Simon & Associates, along with Gomez Trial Attorneys of downtown San Diego. They allege that Mildred Hendricks died as a result of eating A&W Limited Edition cucumbers in August 2015.
“Hendricks was … living independently at home at the time of her death,” said a statement. “She was scheduled to celebrate her 100th birthday this coming December with her family and friends in San Diego.”
The tainted cucumbers were imported from Mexico and distributed to numerous U.S. retail outlets and restaurants by A&W. Federal health officials have linked the cucumbers to a nationwide Salmonella Poona outbreak that has killed two people and sickened at least 341 people in 30 states.
The suit is being brought by Pamela Hendricks Drawbaugh of Travis County, Texas. Mildred Hendricks was her aunt. The suit doesn’t specify a dollar amount in damages sought, but seeks a jury trial, where the court would consider “past and future economic and non-economic damages” among other things.
Mildred Hendricks died Aug. 17 from acute Salmonella poisoning three days after being hospitalized, the law firm said.
Cultures taken at the hospital tested positive for Salmonella Poona matching the outbreak strain linked to tainted A&W Limited Edition cucumbers, the suit alleges.
“San Diego health officials also collected cucumbers from the A&W facility which tested positive for Salmonella,” said a statement by the law firm.
Food safety attorney Simon, who also represents other victims, said Monday: “When importers fail to properly clean and test the food they sell, they put their customers in harm’s way. Unfortunately, Mildred Hendricks paid the ultimate price. Her death is a tremendous loss to her family and community. She will be missed.”
Simon’s law firm established a Salmonella Claim Center that can be reached at 1-888-335-4901.
In a Sept. 10 statement, A&W said: “Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families and their loved ones. We want to let those who are affected know we are fully cooperating with health officials to ensure we are doing everything possible to learn if we are responsible and how this could have happened.”
On Tuesday, A&W partner Dave Murray said via email: “Our priority remains at this time ensuring consumers are protected and determining if and how our products are involved in this outbreak. … We spend millions of dollars each year on food safety at A&W. We live food safety 24/7 and it is ingrained in our culture. We want to get to the bottom of this as much as anyone”
In another case, Lori and Ralph Allegranza, a married couple from Bakersfield, are suing over personal injury.
According to a team of attorneys associated with the firms of Marler Clark of Seattle and Keeney Waite & Stevens of San Diego, Lori ate a garden salad with tainted cucumbers at the Red Lobster in Santa Maria — at the beginning of an RV trip.
“Plaintiffs resumed their RV vacation and were camping when Lori began to feel sick on or about August 4, 2015,” the suit says. “Illness began with terrible stomach cramps and, shortly thereafter, diarrhea. These symptoms lasted for days, and Lori had to suffer from this illness while confined to the small interior space of the RV’s bathroom.”
By Aug. 9, she was still so ill “that she thought she was dying,” the suit says. “She could not keep anything down, even water. Having become so badly dehydrated, she knew that she needed professional medical intervention.”
Lori was seen the same day in the emergency room at Arroyo Grande Community Hospital.
Doctors at first suspected a severe urinary tract infection and Lori was given IV fluids and sent back to her RV with Ciprofloxacin. But she continued to have diarrhea for a few more days before it stopped, her lawyers say.
The hospital called Lori a few days later to tell her that her blood was culture positive for Salmonella, and the health department called her to tell her that she was part of a larger Salmonella Poona outbreak linked to tainted cucumbers, the lawyers said.
She and her husband, who didn’t eat the tainted cucumbers, are suing for unspecified monetary damages including lost wages, “medical and medical-related expenses, emotional distress, fear of harm and humiliation, physical and emotional pain, physical injury and all other ordinary, incidental and consequential damages.”
A&W, said the attorneys, “was negligent in importing, manufacturing, distributing and selling a food product that was adulterated with Salmonella, not fit for human consumption, and not reasonably safe because it was contaminated with Salmonella and because adequate warnings or instructions were not provided.”
A&W, the suit continued, “failed to properly supervise, train and monitor these employees, or the employees of its agents or subcontractors engaged in the growth, harvest, preparation or distribution of the product,” which came from Rancho Don Juanito in Baja California.
This was the fifth lawsuit filed against A&W by Marler Clark. Another one, filed Monday in Minnesota, is on behalf of Jack and Lois Stowe of Mission, Texas, a married couple who fell ill after eating A&W cucumbers — at a Red Lobster in the St. Paul suburb of Maplewood.
“Though she has started to regain her strength and hydration, she remains lethargic and has very little appetite,” reported Food Poison Journal. “She is currently receiving additional medical treatment for her ongoing injuries.”
Fred Williamson, A&W’s president, said of the voluntary recall Sept. 4: “The safety and welfare of consumers is the highest priority for our company. We are taking all precautions possible to prevent further consumption of this product and are working to learn if and how these cucumbers are involved in the ongoing outbreak.”
