A Smithfield man who was hospitalized for two weeks after eating Boar’s Head deli meat has filed a $48 million lawsuit against the company.
This is the third lawsuit filed to date in a Listeria outbreak that began in July and has been linked to the production of liverwurst at a Jarratt processing facility.
Robert Reposa bought the tainted deli meat at a Smithfield Kroger and later became “frighteningly ill” with stomach pain, vomiting, fever, chills and diarrhea, the lawsuit alleges. He went to Velocity Urgent Care initially, then Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and was later admitted to Sentara Heart Hospital, according to the lawsuit.
Because of his previous heart issues, the lawsuit alleges, his exposure to Listeria was “extraordinarily dangerous.”
The lawsuit alleges that Reposa “continues to suffer to this day and likely has suffered permanent damage” as a result of this exposure. The lawsuit states that due to his injuries, Reposa has incurred substantial medical bills, suffered great pain, mental anguish and inconvenience. The lawsuit also states that he has been unable to carry on his normal day-to-day affairs.
Two other lawsuits have been filed by Virginians in the Listeria outbreak. One was filed on behalf of a Newport News man who died after eating liverwurst; the second by a Williamsburg woman who survived but went through a harrowing ordeal and is still in recovery.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nine deaths have been linked to this outbreak and 57 people have been hospitalized. The last update from the CDC was on Aug. 28.
More than 300 locations in Virginia sold the contaminated liverwurst product.
Boar’s Head announced that it will no longer produce the liverwurst product, and it announced the Jarratt facility will permanently close.
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For more coverage of the outbreak and aftermath, search “Listeria” on Augusta Free Press.
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Crystal Graham
