Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Stew Leonard's and Cookies United

NEW YORK — The personal injury law firm of Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf filed a wrongful death complaint on behalf of the estate of Órla Ruth Baxendale. The complaint was filed against Stew Leonard's Danbury, LLC, Stew Leonard's Holdings, LLC, Stew Leonard Jr., and supermarket employees David Pollard, Peter Tournas, Bret Cherry, Mario Ortiz, Chris Nemer, Annemarie Clarke Gochee, Sergio Rocha and Cookies United LLC in the Superior Court, J.D. of Waterbury.

As alleged in the complaint, the incident involved the death of 25-year-old Órla Ruth Baxendale, who died after consuming a cookie containing peanuts that were not declared on the product label. According to the lawsuit, despite 11 Stew Leonard's employees having been told by the cookie manufacturer six months before they sold the cookies that the recipe changed and they now contained peanuts, the supermarket chain packaged and sold the cookies without properly changing the label and without warning their customers that they contained peanuts.

Baxendale, who had a known severe peanut allergy, relied on the product labeling to ensure her safety. The complaint alleges that the defendant Stew Leonard's exhibited gross negligence and reckless indifference by failing to properly label the package of cookies, causing Baxendale's death.

Key points of the complaint include:

• The systems in place at Stew Leonard's used to maintain and update the proper labels were broken, unreliable, inherently dangerous, undependable, untrustworthy, erratic and deplorable. Multiple recalls followed Órla's death for a wide range of food products sold by Stew Leonard's, including the Florentine Cookies.
• The supermarket defendants failed to update the cookie's packaging to reflect the inclusion of peanuts despite being notified of the ingredient change in July 2023 by Cookies United LLC. This omission directly led to the fatal incident on January 11, 2024.
• The complaint details how Stew Leonard's and its employees ignored multiple notifications about the ingredient change. These notifications included updated labels and nutrition facts panels indicating the presence of peanuts.
• Following Baxendale's death, Stew Leonard's attempted to shift the blame onto Cookies United LLC through a press release, which was later proven to be false. Cookies United LLC responded with their press releases, clarifying that Stew Leonard's had been informed about the ingredient changes.
• The defendants are accused of violating federal and state food safety laws, including the FDA Model Food Code and other relevant standards, by failing to properly label the Florentine Cookies.
• Baxendale was a dancer and scholarship student at the Alvin Ailey School. Her death has left her family, including her parents, Angela Josephine Baxendale and Simon Baxendale, and her siblings, devastated.

The lawsuit demands monetary damages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees and other relief deemed appropriate by the court. Read the complaint here.