Órla Baxendale's Family Sues Over Her Death From Alleged Mislabeled Cookie

Órla Baxendale's family want to hold Stew Leonard's accountable.

Four months after the dancer died from a severe allergic reaction after eating a cookie at a Connecticut supermarket, her mom Angela Baxendale and estate co-administrator Louis Grandelli filed a wrongful death suit against the grocery store chain and manufacturer Cookies United.

In the lawsuit filed May 23, lawyers for Baxendale's parents and estate allege that the 25-year-old, who had a severe peanut allergy, had in January consumed a Florentine cookie sold at Stew Leonard's Danbury, Conn., store. According to the filing, obtained by E! News, the dancer experienced an anaphylactic reaction causing symptoms such as shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and swallowing, dizziness, lightheadedness and increased heartrate and was taken to a hospital, where she died.

The lawyers for Baxendale's estate allege the market was negligent in Baxendale's Jan. 11 death, accusing the chain of ignoring or failing to heed an emailed July 2023 letter from Cookies United that had informed the company of the addition of peanuts in its Florentine cookies. The supermarket chain then allegedly failed to properly label the product or include a warning about the change in ingredients, the filing alleges.

Stew Leonard's CEO Stew Leonard, Jr. said in a Jan. 24 video statement that the cookies' supplier changed the recipe for a holiday cookie from soy nuts to peanuts and that his company's chief safety officer was never notified about the change.

"We have a very rigorous process that we use, as far as labeling," he added. "We take labels very seriously, especially peanuts."

Around the same time, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) issued a public health warning stating that select packages of Florentine cookies sold at a couple of Stew Leonard's in the state contain both undeclared peanuts and eggs. Stew Leonard's said in a Jan. 25 press release it was recalling select Florentine cookies for this reason, adding that "one death has been reported that may be associated with the mislabeled product."

The company said it was working with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and the supplier to determine the cause of the labeling error.

Meanwhile, Cookies United placed the blame on Stew Leonard's. "Stew Leonard's was notified by Cookies United in July of 2023 that this product now contains peanuts and all products shipped to them have been labeled accordingly," their lawyer said in a Jan. 23 statement. This product is sold under the Stew Leonard's brand and repackaged at their facilities. The incorrect label was created by, and applied to, their product by Stew Leonard's."

However, in its lawsuit, Baxendale's estate alleges Cookies United was also negligent and "strictly liable for the profound personal injuries and loses" sustained by the dancer, noting it had a "continuing duty" to "advise and warn purchasers and consumers, and all prior purchasers and consumers of all dangerous, characteristics, potentialities and/or defects discovered or discoverable subsequent to their initial packaging, marketing, distribution, and sale of the Florentine Cookie."

E! News has reached out for comment from reps for Cookies Limited and has not heard back. A rep for Stew Leonard's told E! News they cannot comment on pending litigation.

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