The devastated family of a Lancashire ballet dancer, who tragically died from an allergic , is taking legal action against a US supermarket and cookie company for 'gross negligence.' Orla Baxendale, originally from the UK but based in New York as a professional dancer, suffered anaphylactic shock and sadly passed away on January 11 after consuming vanilla Florentine cookies containing peanuts. The biscuits were bought from Stew Leonard's store in Connecticut and were later recalled due to the lack of a peanut allergy warning on the packaging.
After eating the biscuits made by Cookies United, a US baking company, 25-year-old Orla, who had a severe peanut allergy, became ill. Both the supermarket and manufacturer are listed as defendants. Her heartbroken family, who described her as "truly one of a kind' and as a 'beautiful, radiant and brave soul," have filed a lawsuit with the Superior Court in Waterbury last week.
They allege that both the retailer and the manufacturer were "grossly negligent." The attorneys representing the estate filed the lawsuit on May 23. In it, they allege that Baxendale died “as a result of the gross negligence and reckless indifference to the rights of others and an intentional and wanton violation of those rights by” the supermarket, Stew Leonard’s, and the manufacturer, Cookies United.
The lawsuit alleges that Orla was in the "prime of her life" and had "relied upon the manufacturer and seller to properly label the package sold to the general.