October 23, 2024 • 8 mins
The widow of a Brooksville man who died of listeria after eating ham packed in a Virginia facility is suing the Florida company that owns it and the supermarket where he bought it. We speak with
attorney Harris Yegelwell of Morgan and Morgan.
attorney Harris Yegelwell of Morgan and Morgan.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News, the widow of
a Hernando County man who died after developing listeriosis following
the consumption of Boreshead, ham and cheese products tied to
the company's facility in Jarrett, Virginia, which has been shut
down and products from there recalled. Is suing that company
as well as the supermarket chain where the products were purchased.
(00:25):
We're speaking with Harris Yegowell of Morgan and Morgan, who
is the attorney in that case, about the case and
the lawsuit. Harris Jegowell, Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Hey Gordon, It's great to be here. Man. Really appreciate
you guys covering this really important story.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Well, now let's talk about the timeline here and about
the deceased, about the when it was purchased, and his
illness and unfortunately his death, and the reasons for the lawsuit.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Certainly so. Mister As had purchased Boor'shead Tavernham and Boar's
Head yellow American cheese from a local Brooksville, Florida public
store on a few separate occasions in April of this year.
In late April, he became ill with diarrhea, fatigue, and
(01:18):
fever and some other symptoms relating to his stomach, but
again he had no real reason to suspect that he
had a rare or serious infection, so naturally, like most
people faced with those symptoms, he waited for them to pass.
But eventually they didn't go away, and he went to
the hospital on May second, and he was diagnosed with listeriosis,
(01:38):
which is the form of listeria found at this Jarrett
facility in Virginia, and that progressed over the next two
days into meningitis and sepsis, and unfortunately, he ended up
dying on May fifth, leaving behind his wife, sister, three sons,
and seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
And with the time line here, this was several weeks
before the recall and everything hit the news. If I'm correct,
if I understand the timeline correctly, you are Gordon.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
But the thing you got to realize, and as we
set forth in our complaint, is that what was going
on at the Jarrett facility were deplorable conditions and tons
of health code violations and food safety violations that we
believe and the investigations have already revealed. We're plaguing that
facility as early as twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, and if you could kind of quickly recap the
issues that the various agencies have had that led to
the shutdown and the recalls.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Certainly, so I'm looking even just at our complaint, and
we attached a number of exhibits from publicly available news
sources that really reflect it. But it really starts back
in January of twenty twenty two when they found and
when I say they, I'm talking about obviously, the United
States Agriculture Department had investigated the bores had Jarrett facility
(02:59):
and found they weren't in compliance with USDA standards for
handling meats, and even by September of twenty twenty two,
inspectors found that the conditions at the facility posed quote
an imminent threat to public health. And recently the USDA
non compliance reports were released, and these publicly available reports,
(03:22):
which are Exhibit E to our complaint, revealed just a
host of issues Gordon that you can only imagine would
impact the safety and health of food. Were they were
leaking pipes from the top, there were puddles everywhere that
was forming algae. There was instances of rouss corrosion, flaking paint,
(03:43):
there was black and green mold, there was mildew, and
it basically seems like the facility was never really cleaned
or sanitized very well, and that these non compliance issues continued,
and it was I guess for the next couple of
months there'd be and year and year that several violations
that are set forth in the USDA non compliance reports
(04:05):
by those inspectors. And then, as you know, on July nineteenth,
twenty twenty four, that imminent threat got to a breaking
point where the US FDA, the CDC, the US Department
of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the investigation
into the multi state outbreak of listeriosis. Diagnosis is associated
(04:26):
with the contaminated boresaid products at the facility.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Now Publics is listed as a co defendant. That's where
the deceased purchase the ham and cheese. Why are they
named as a co defendant?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Orton, I think that's a great question, and it probably
ties in with something that we were talking about before
we hopped on the recording, which is what is the
purpose of food poisoning cases and food safety cases beyond
just simply monetary recovery for the decedent and their family.
And I think that ties in directly well with your
question as to why is Public's are defendant. In Florida,
we've got strict liability right and the policy and the
(05:02):
underlying purpose of that is that innocent victims like mister
like mister Otis Adams should not have to bear and
his family, his poor widow Judith Adams, should not have
to bear the responsibility for something that they didn't do
wrong at all. So the strict liability regime in Florida
enables us to sue anybody in the chain of distribution,
(05:22):
and that would include a seller, a distributor, or manufacturer.
And with what we know about these issues predating the
twenty twenty four recall, and that the facility having all
these ongoing issues, we just don't know at this time
what Public's knew and how much they were involved with
acquiring products from this facility, what due diligence they could
have done. So at this time it would be improper
(05:45):
for us to not include all potentially liable parties because
we're just trying to make sure that we can get
justice for Otis and his poor widow, Miss Adams as well.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And this time I'll note that we have reached out
to publics and Boreshead's media contact for their reaction or
any kinds of statement. Uh, this is of course pending litigation,
and you know, so that we don't lose the humanity
of this. Obviously, Otis Adams had family, as you mentioned,
(06:15):
people who cared about him. He was part of the community. Uh,
you know, let's take a moment and just acknowledge, uh,
who he was and what was lost by his passing.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I appreciate that, mister Bird. That's that's very important. So
you know, when we talk about the death that miss
miss Adams suffered from her husband, unfortunately, it's important to
keep in mind that these two were inseparable, and they
were in their late stage of their career, their children
were grown, and they really were in love with each other.
(06:49):
They did everything together and it was a tremendous loss
to miss Adams, and it's a tremendous loss for anybody
who loses someone to something that's so preventable. And that's
why miss Adams had reached out to our law firm
at Morgan and Morgan, because of our extensive track record
of handling food poisoning cases, mass torts, any kind of
action where you just sit there and you ask yourself,
(07:09):
was this preventable? Is there something we could have done?
Is there something we can do now to prevent such
a terrible situation from occurring again? And that's the main
reason why we're bringing this in the honor of mister
Adams and his family.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And just one more question before we wrap up the
cases being brought in Circuit Court in Sarasota County, is
that because that is the headquarters area for boars Head.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
You got it, sir, That's exactly what led to the
decision to file there. And we don't anticipate or expect
that members of the jury will be incredibly empathetic with
a company who has such a terrible track record as
we set forth in our complaint and these frankly unacceptable
shortcomings that led to this, and we look forward to
(07:54):
having our day in court and getting justice and compensation
for mister Adams and miss Adams and their whole family.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Harris Jagawell of Morgan and Morgan representing the survivor of
a man who died after purchasing some food from a
boar's head plant that has been tied to various forms
of contamination and as we mentioned, we've reached out to
(08:21):
publics and to Boar's head for comment. They're both co
defendants in the suit and reaction or any statement that
they care to issue. Harris Jagowell of Morgan and Morgan,
thank you very much for joining us on beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you very much, Gordon
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News, the widow of
a Hernando County man who died after developing listeriosis following
the consumption of Boreshead, ham and cheese products tied to
the company's facility in Jarrett, Virginia, which has been shut
down and products from there recalled. Is suing that company
as well as the supermarket chain where the products were purchased.
(00:25):
We're speaking with Harris Yegowell of Morgan and Morgan, who
is the attorney in that case, about the case and
the lawsuit. Harris Jegowell, Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Hey Gordon, It's great to be here. Man. Really appreciate
you guys covering this really important story.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Well, now let's talk about the timeline here and about
the deceased, about the when it was purchased, and his
illness and unfortunately his death, and the reasons for the lawsuit.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Certainly so. Mister As had purchased Boor'shead Tavernham and Boar's
Head yellow American cheese from a local Brooksville, Florida public
store on a few separate occasions in April of this year.
In late April, he became ill with diarrhea, fatigue, and
(01:18):
fever and some other symptoms relating to his stomach, but
again he had no real reason to suspect that he
had a rare or serious infection, so naturally, like most
people faced with those symptoms, he waited for them to pass.
But eventually they didn't go away, and he went to
the hospital on May second, and he was diagnosed with listeriosis,
(01:38):
which is the form of listeria found at this Jarrett
facility in Virginia, and that progressed over the next two
days into meningitis and sepsis, and unfortunately, he ended up
dying on May fifth, leaving behind his wife, sister, three sons,
and seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
And with the time line here, this was several weeks
before the recall and everything hit the news. If I'm correct,
if I understand the timeline correctly, you are Gordon.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
But the thing you got to realize, and as we
set forth in our complaint, is that what was going
on at the Jarrett facility were deplorable conditions and tons
of health code violations and food safety violations that we
believe and the investigations have already revealed. We're plaguing that
facility as early as twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, and if you could kind of quickly recap the
issues that the various agencies have had that led to
the shutdown and the recalls.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Certainly, so I'm looking even just at our complaint, and
we attached a number of exhibits from publicly available news
sources that really reflect it. But it really starts back
in January of twenty twenty two when they found and
when I say they, I'm talking about obviously, the United
States Agriculture Department had investigated the bores had Jarrett facility
(02:59):
and found they weren't in compliance with USDA standards for
handling meats, and even by September of twenty twenty two,
inspectors found that the conditions at the facility posed quote
an imminent threat to public health. And recently the USDA
non compliance reports were released, and these publicly available reports,
(03:22):
which are Exhibit E to our complaint, revealed just a
host of issues Gordon that you can only imagine would
impact the safety and health of food. Were they were
leaking pipes from the top, there were puddles everywhere that
was forming algae. There was instances of rouss corrosion, flaking paint,
(03:43):
there was black and green mold, there was mildew, and
it basically seems like the facility was never really cleaned
or sanitized very well, and that these non compliance issues continued,
and it was I guess for the next couple of
months there'd be and year and year that several violations
that are set forth in the USDA non compliance reports
(04:05):
by those inspectors. And then, as you know, on July nineteenth,
twenty twenty four, that imminent threat got to a breaking
point where the US FDA, the CDC, the US Department
of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the investigation
into the multi state outbreak of listeriosis. Diagnosis is associated
(04:26):
with the contaminated boresaid products at the facility.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Now Publics is listed as a co defendant. That's where
the deceased purchase the ham and cheese. Why are they
named as a co defendant?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Orton, I think that's a great question, and it probably
ties in with something that we were talking about before
we hopped on the recording, which is what is the
purpose of food poisoning cases and food safety cases beyond
just simply monetary recovery for the decedent and their family.
And I think that ties in directly well with your
question as to why is Public's are defendant. In Florida,
we've got strict liability right and the policy and the
(05:02):
underlying purpose of that is that innocent victims like mister
like mister Otis Adams should not have to bear and
his family, his poor widow Judith Adams, should not have
to bear the responsibility for something that they didn't do
wrong at all. So the strict liability regime in Florida
enables us to sue anybody in the chain of distribution,
(05:22):
and that would include a seller, a distributor, or manufacturer.
And with what we know about these issues predating the
twenty twenty four recall, and that the facility having all
these ongoing issues, we just don't know at this time
what Public's knew and how much they were involved with
acquiring products from this facility, what due diligence they could
have done. So at this time it would be improper
(05:45):
for us to not include all potentially liable parties because
we're just trying to make sure that we can get
justice for Otis and his poor widow, Miss Adams as well.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And this time I'll note that we have reached out
to publics and Boreshead's media contact for their reaction or
any kinds of statement. Uh, this is of course pending litigation,
and you know, so that we don't lose the humanity
of this. Obviously, Otis Adams had family, as you mentioned,
(06:15):
people who cared about him. He was part of the community. Uh,
you know, let's take a moment and just acknowledge, uh,
who he was and what was lost by his passing.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I appreciate that, mister Bird. That's that's very important. So
you know, when we talk about the death that miss
miss Adams suffered from her husband, unfortunately, it's important to
keep in mind that these two were inseparable, and they
were in their late stage of their career, their children
were grown, and they really were in love with each other.
(06:49):
They did everything together and it was a tremendous loss
to miss Adams, and it's a tremendous loss for anybody
who loses someone to something that's so preventable. And that's
why miss Adams had reached out to our law firm
at Morgan and Morgan, because of our extensive track record
of handling food poisoning cases, mass torts, any kind of
action where you just sit there and you ask yourself,
(07:09):
was this preventable? Is there something we could have done?
Is there something we can do now to prevent such
a terrible situation from occurring again? And that's the main
reason why we're bringing this in the honor of mister
Adams and his family.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
And just one more question before we wrap up the
cases being brought in Circuit Court in Sarasota County, is
that because that is the headquarters area for boars Head.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
You got it, sir, That's exactly what led to the
decision to file there. And we don't anticipate or expect
that members of the jury will be incredibly empathetic with
a company who has such a terrible track record as
we set forth in our complaint and these frankly unacceptable
shortcomings that led to this, and we look forward to
(07:54):
having our day in court and getting justice and compensation
for mister Adams and miss Adams and their whole family.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Harris Jagawell of Morgan and Morgan representing the survivor of
a man who died after purchasing some food from a
boar's head plant that has been tied to various forms
of contamination and as we mentioned, we've reached out to
(08:21):
publics and to Boar's head for comment. They're both co
defendants in the suit and reaction or any statement that
they care to issue. Harris Jagowell of Morgan and Morgan,
thank you very much for joining us on beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you very much, Gordon
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