Stew Leonard's staff, president not liable for dancer's fatal allergic reaction after eating cookie with nuts, judge rules

Individual Stew Leonard's employees, including the namesake and president of the Long Island supermarket chain, cannot be held legally responsible for the January 2024 death of British dancer who suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating a cookie that contained peanuts that weren’t declared on the label, according to a ruling from a Connecticut judge.

Órla Baxendale, 25, of Manchester, England but living in New York, died after consuming a vanilla Florentine cookie manufactured by wholesaler Cookies United in Islip and labeled with the Stew Leonard’s brand name, officials said. In May 2024, the estate of the young dancer filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, claiming the failure to properly label the package was negligent.

In a Sept. 16 ruling, Waterbury Superior Court Judge Kimberly Massicotte dismissed all claims against individual Stew Leonard's executives and employees, including Stew Leonard Jr., the company's president and chief executive.

In addition, Massicotte dismissed the lawsuits' wrongful death counts, ruling that the Connecticut's Products Liability Act is the only legal remedy for injuries caused by defective products.

A lawsuit on the product liability claims, the judge wrote, against Stew Leonard's and Cookies United can continue, with the case scheduled for trial next year.

"The allegations in this case are inadequate to demonstrate that the individual employee defendants had an independent duty to the decedent," Massicotte wrote. "The duty articulated in the plaintiff's complaint belongs to the operator of the grocery store."

Howard Hershenhorn, an attorney who represents Baxendale's family, said "Stew Leonard’s continues to litigate rather than accept responsibility, prolonging a grieving family’s suffering. We will continue to pursue punitive damages to punish Stew Leonard's for their gross negligence and demand full accountability and lasting change so no other family endures a preventable loss."

Stew Leonard's and Cookies United, along with their respective attorneys, did not respond to requests for comment.

Baxendale went into anaphylactic shock on Jan. 11, 2024, after eating the cookie at a social gathering in Connecticut. An EpiPen was administered to Baxendale but she succumbed to the allergic reaction that day.

Stew Leonard’s contends its supplier went from soy nuts to peanuts in the recipe without notifying their chief safety officer.

But Cookies United executives said they sent emails to 11 Stew Leonard's employees — all of whom had been named in the lawsuit — notifying them that the product now contained peanuts. The company also contends that when the cookies were shipped to Stew Leonard's, the labels created by the bakery stipulated that the product contained peanuts.

The lawsuit said Stew Leonard's employees ignored the email and that the updated ingredients were never included on the cookie label.

Baxendale moved to New York in 2018 to train as a scholarship student at The Ailey School. She appeared in numerous professional productions, including at Lincoln Center, the school said.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.