Anyone who has severe food allergies knows all too well how stressful it can be to wonder whether a restaurant, school, or other facility preparing food or consumable products is truly as diligent with their safety and sanitation practices as they claim. Unfortunately, what they may see as a minor mistake could have life-threatening consequences for you and others with serious allergies—consequences that might cost a great deal of money to treat and cause no small amount of psychological and emotional strain along the way.
If you suffered an allergic reaction serious enough to require professional medical care because someone else wrongfully exposed you to an allergen, you may have grounds for civil litigation. A skilled New Haven food allergy lawyer can help you understand your legal options and work with you to seek out the payments you need and deserve.
Exposure to a dangerous allergen does not need to stem from an intentional or malicious act in order for it to potentially serve as the basis for a civil lawsuit or settlement demand. Even an inadvertent mistake like cross-contamination of dishes in a restaurant or giving a child at a daycare or school the wrong snack can qualify as legally actionable negligence if it violates a “duty of care.” When someone has a legal obligation to take reasonable precautions for food allergies and their failure directly leads to an allergic reaction requiring more than basic first aid, this can be considered legally actionable negligence.
It is worth noting as well that while cross-contamination like this can often be traced back to a single irresponsible person, it is very often possible to hold businesses like restaurants and government entities like schools “vicariously liable” for negligence by one of their employees, which can allow for far greater financial recovery than a single worker would be able to provide. A New Haven food allergy attorney can help pursue litigation directly against a business or facility for widespread failure to maintain proper food sanitation practices.
Both economic and non-economic forms of harm stemming from a serious allergic reaction could be recoverable through an ensuing civil claim, including medical bills, missed work wages, physical pain, and various forms of psychological and emotional suffering. Anyone pursuing food allergy litigation in New Haven must comply with the statute of limitations for claims of this nature.
As a knowledgeable lawyer could further explain, Connecticut General Statutes §52-584 limits most people who want to file suit over a food allergy injury—or any other kind of injury caused by someone else’s negligence—to two years at most after sustaining harm in which to bring their claim forward. Among other things, legal counsel can provide irreplaceable assistance with finding important evidence and constructing the strongest possible claim within this strictly enforced time limit.
Having a severe food allergy can affect almost every aspect of your life, and you have a right to expect that places like restaurants and schools will treat your allergies as seriously as they deserve. As a result, you also may have a right to take legal action against any person or company that fails to protect you to the degree the law requires them to and causes you to suffer a severe allergic reaction.
A meeting with a New Haven food allergy lawyer could provide answers to important questions and guidance about your next steps. Contact us today to get started.
Berkowitz Hanna
