Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
January 2008, Courtney Rohn dashed in for a takeout order at a Homestead restaurant.
A day later the 32-year-old mom died at Homestead Hospital. An autopsy showed that she died of a bacterial infection in the blood.
Now her family has filed suit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against El Toro Taco, in connection with Rohn’s takeout order. The lawsuit alleges the bacterial infection was caused from food poisoning and was exacerbated from Rohn having her spleen removed.
Rohn’s mother and stepfather, Margaret and Walter Armstrong, are alleging two counts of negligence, two counts of strict liability and violations of The Florida Food Safety Act.
According to the lawsuit, Rohn ordered takeout at the restaurant on Jan. 4 — a beef chimichanga for herself and chicken tacos for her son.
About 2 a.m., she awoke violently ill and began suffering from symptoms of food poisoning. When her condition worsened that afternoon, she was rushed to the emergency room at Homestead Hospital, where she collapsed and later went into cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit. Within three hours of her arrival to the hospital, she was dead.
According to the lawsuit filed in June, the restaurant failed to exercise reasonable care, maintain and operate the restaurant in a reasonably safe and clean manner, comply with applicable health safety codes and serve food that is fit for human consumption.
“Failing to keep premises free of rodent and insect infestation” and “employing and/or using workers who were unfit and/or untrained and/or unhealthy to properly serve, handle and prepare foods” are among the 38 acts of negligence and carelessness listed in the lawsuit.
A health inspection performed days after Rohn’s death revealed 53 violations of Florida’s sanitation and safety laws, including 35 that were critical.
Critical violations, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, are “those that, if not corrected, are more likely to contribute directly to food contamination, illness or environmental damage.”
An inspection three months earlier also revealed critical violations, prompting a follow-up inspection later that month, which the restaurant passed, allowing it to continue operating with a permanent food service license that is still listed as active today.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation filed an administrative complaint against the restaurant in January and El Toro Taco paid a $500 fine in May.
If you or a family member has been injured because of the fault of someone else; by negligence, personal injury, slip and fall, car accident, medical malpractice, trucking accident, drunk driving, dangerous drugs, bad product, toxic injury etc then please contact the Fort Worth Texas Personal Injury Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 817-255-4001 or Contact Me Online.