A lawsuit was recently filed on behalf of a Kentucky couple after they and their “240 wedding guests were exposed to hepatitis A during an August reception at the banquet hall.” Kentucky attorney Donald L. Nageleisen filed the suit against the Newport Syndicate on behalf of Jeff and Kameron Slavey, “their wedding guests and two other couples who hosted weddings at the Syndicate between July 25 and Aug. 11” after an employee fell ill with hepatitis A.
A lawsuit was recently filed on behalf of a Kentucky couple after they and their “240 wedding guests were exposed to hepatitis A during an August reception at the banquet hall.” Kentucky attorney Donald L. Nageleisen filed the suit against the Newport Syndicate on behalf of Jeff and Kameron Slavey, “their wedding guests and two other couples who hosted weddings at the Syndicate between July 25 and Aug. 11” after an employee fell ill with hepatitis A.
The suit was filed in Campbell County Circuit Court and accuses the Syndicate of being negligent and alleges it “breached the implied warranty that food would be safe for consumption.” But what happened, exactly?
According to the suit, the Slaveys held a wedding reception at the Syndicate on August 3 where about 240 guests attended. The Newport Syndicate supplied the food, which cost the couple more than $13,000, according to the suit.
However, about two weeks after the wedding, the couple was contacted by the Northern Kentucky Health Department and were informed that “they should notify their guests that each one had been exposed to hepatitis A,” according to the suit. As a result, everyone who attended the wedding reception was advised to get vaccinated.
The suit stated, “There is a two-week window of incubation once exposed, with the plaintiffs being notified with less than 48 hours to notify all guests of the closing incubation period.” It added that the warning “caused the couple to call over 240 guests in a two day period to tell them that they must be vaccinated within 48 hours before the two week period was up.”
As if being exposed to hepatitis A wasn’t bad enough, the suit also claims that Kameron Slavey, along with several other wedding guests, was pregnant during what should have been a joyful event. Fortunately for Slavey, she was able to receive treatment in time before the virus developed into a full-blown infection.
Unfortunately, the Slaveys and their wedding guests weren’t the only ones to be exposed to hepatitis A at the Syndicate. According to Dr. Lynne Saddler, the health department’s district director, “hundreds could have been exposed to hepatitis A after the news was announced.” She said, “We get concerned when a food-service worker that’s handling food that’s not going to be cooked has hepatitis A…We always will err on the side of caution.”
It’s important to note, however, that “food service workers are not required to be vaccinated for hepatitis A in most Kentucky counties because cases linked to food-based transmission in restaurants are rare.” For example, it’s estimated that only 2 or 3% of “hepatitis A cases in New York state are traced to restaurant food.”
For now, the suit is asking for a jury trial and is seeking damages to “cover the cost of medical treatment and for the fear, stress, trauma, and emotional damages suffered.”
Sources:
Lawsuit: Pregnant bride, guests exposed to hepatitis A at Newport reception
Pregnant bride, guests exposed to hepatitis A at reception, lawsuit claims
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