Phaninc:Lawsuit filed in the death of dancer with a peanut allergy who died after eating mislabeled cookie

2025-05-04 17:01:53source:Charles Hanovercategory:News

WATERBURY,Phaninc Conn. (AP) — The estate of a young dancer who died after eating a mislabeled cookie containing peanuts has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming the failure to properly label the package was grossly negligent.

Órla Ruth Baxendale, 25, died Jan. 11 after eating a Florentine cookie sold by grocery retailer Stew Leonard’s and suffering an anaphylactic reaction, according to the lawsuit. Baxendale, who had a severe peanut allergy, had moved to New York City from England to pursue a career as a dancer and was in “the prime of her life,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Superior Court in Waterbury.

The batch of holiday cookies sold at Stew Leonard’s stores in Danbury and Newington in Connecticut late last year were later recalled. The cookies were produced by the Long Island-based wholesaler Cookies United and labeled with the Stew Leonard’s brand name, state officials said.

Both companies are named in the lawsuit, along with several Stew Leonard’s employees.

Failure to properly label the cookie package prior to sale “was grossly negligent, intentional, reckless, callous, indifferent to human life, and a wanton violation as the manufacturer and seller were required under the law to properly declare the ingredients,” according to the lawsuit.

READ MORE Republican AGs ask Supreme Court to block climate change lawsuits brought by several statesUvalde families sue Meta and ‘Call of Duty’ maker on 2nd anniversary of school attackNew lawsuit accuses Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexually abusing college student in the 1990s

A spokesperson for Stew Leonard’s said they could not comment on pending litigation.

The general counsel for Cookies United did not respond to an email seeking comment Friday evening.

Stew Leonard’s said in January that the supplier went from soy nuts to peanuts in the recipe without notifying their chief safety officer.

Cookies United had said they notified Stew Leonard’s last July that the product contained peanuts and that all products shipped to the retailer had been labeled accordingly.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary and punitive damages.

More:News

Recommend

Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti

Haiti has been racked by political instabilityand intensifying, deadly gang violence.  Amid a Federa

Conception dive boat captain Jerry Boylan sentenced to 4 years in prison for deadly fire

A California boat captain who abandoned ship when the dive boat Conception caught fire in 2019, kill

Arizona GOP wins state high court appeal of sanctions for 2020 election challenge

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has reversed lower court rulings that held the Arizona Repu