The family of an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who allegedly died after eating Boar's Head deli meat contaminated with Listeria has filed the first wrongful death lawsuit against the company since the nationwide outbreak.
The death of Virginia resident Gunter Morgenstein was the result of “negligence” by Boar's Head in distributing “defective and unreasonably dangerous” meat without “adequate warnings about the dangers of its product,” Morgenstein's family said in a lawsuit filed in Florida last week.
Since the Boar's Head Listeria outbreak, nine people have died and nearly 60 have been hospitalized, Morgenstein said. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Boar's Head plant in Jarratt, Virginia, has racked up dozens of violations over the past year, including reports of mold, insects and pools of blood throughout the facility, The Washington Post previously reported.
Boar's Head did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the man, a husband, father and Holocaust survivor, purchased Boar's Head liverwurst and other Boar's Head products at a Harris Teeter supermarket on June 30.
He ate the product in sandwiches for the next few days.
“He subsequently became ill with symptoms including weakness, diarrhea, fatigue and fever,” the family said in the lawsuit.
Morgenstein's condition continued to deteriorate and he was eventually hospitalized on July 8, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, his blood cultures tested positive for Listeria after he “ingested” it from a Boar's Head product.
According to the lawsuit, Morgenstein became seriously ill from the tainted meat, developing listeriosis, encephalitis, meningitis and septicemia.
Morgenstein died after 10 days in the hospital. A copy of his death certificate obtained by The Washington Post listed the cause of death as listeria meningoencephalitis, a deadly bacterial infection that can cause brain abscesses.
“Gunther was a great man who lived a great life and should not have died from eating a sandwich,” Ron Simon, an attorney for the Morgensteins and several other listeria victims, told The Post in a statement.
“He demonstrated courage in facing life's challenges with a smile and remained strong-willed until the end,” his obituary said.
According to his obituary, Morgenstein left East Berlin in 1954 “with nothing but the clothes on his back.”
He worked as a “master” hairdresser for more than 70 years, according to his obituary.
“We want to ensure that everyone affected by listeria receives fair compensation for their losses,” and “we want to force Boar's Head to never let this happen again,” the family's lawyer said.
Mr Morgenstein's family said they were “devastated” by his death.
“He was a caring husband, a proud father and a good friend to all who knew him,” his family told The Post in a statement. “We hope to raise awareness of the unsafe and unsanitary conditions at Boar's Head and bring about change so others don't suffer the same fate.”
In July, Boar's Head recalled 7 million pounds of deli meats after testing of its liver sausages showed signs of listeria.
Customers across the country are getting sick. Founded in Brooklyn in 1905, the family-owned company is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida.
New York has been particularly hard hit: The state health department is investigating 17 cases of listeriosis, eight of which are in New York City alone.
Federal agencies said last week that at least one of the nine deaths linked to the outbreak was in New York.
It's the worst listeria outbreak since 2011, when 147 people became ill and 33 died after eating tainted cantaloupe.
Supermarkets and delis across New York have seen sales of Boar's Head meat plummet by up to 30 percent as customers become wary of the iconic cold cut's tainted brand, the New York Post reported exclusively.
Boar's Head was founded in Brooklyn in 1905.
