A Hammond man is suing a dairy manufacturer Blue Bell Creameries, alleging negligence, redhibition, breach of warranty, and unjust enrichment in a frozen snack recall notification issue.
Steven J. Leon brought a class action lawsuit against Blue Bell Creameries Inc. of Baton Rouge in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana on Aug. 14 on alleging negligence regarding a March product recall.
According to the complaint, consumers who purchased the defendant’s food products for consumption between March 13 and April 20 are entitled to damages because the company purportedly failed to provide adequate notice of the recall of their products. The lawsuit states that the company posted a recall on its website on or about March and April but that the dairy business had had positive test results for a potentially lethal bacterium since 2013.
The suit states that the class members unknowingly paid for ice cream products containing listeria monocytogenes bacteria that could negatively impact their health. The plaintiff argues that due to the health hazard posed by the products, the items were of no economic value because they had to be discarded; and that he and others were not notified of an available refund.
According to the suit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all impacted Blue Bell products stored in home or commercial freezers be discarded. The suit states that the putative class consists of more than 100 members and the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million.
Leon requests declaratory action; designation of himself as class representative; judgment including restitution; actual, statutory and punitive damages; interest; attorneys' fees, expenses; and court costs. The plaintiff is represented by Philip Bohrer and Scott Brady of the Bohrer Law Firm in Baton Rouge.
U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana Case 2:15-cv-03454-LMA-MBN