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Somerset woman suing Fall River restaurant after alleged incident concerning food allergies

Published

1 year ago

July 19, 2023

Ken Paiva

A Somerset woman has filed a lawsuit against a popular restaurant chain located in Fall River.

According to the complaint, Kristen Russell has an allergy to gluten that substantially affects her ability to eat and also affects her respiratory and circulatory system. She must avoid consuming foods that contain gluten to prevent an allergic reaction or will suffer adverse health consequences if she ingests gluten, including but not limited to abdominal pain and cramping, diarrhea, hives, vomiting, nausea, difficulty breathing and possibly death.

The complaint alleges that on May 28, 2022, Russell entered the Chipotle restaurant located at 575 Newton Street in Fall River as she had done several times before. Russell proceeded to the counter to order her meal. She informed the staff member at the counter that she had an allergy to gluten.

Russell stated that she was familiar with the menu as she had eaten there several times before. She knew that the only menu item that she could not safely consume was the flour tortilla. She also knew that in the past, when she told a staff member of her allergy, they would implement their allergy procedures by wiping the counter, washing their hands, and changing their gloves.

Russell alleges that immediately, the staff member told her that there was nothing on the menu that she could have. She said that she knew that she could eat anything on the menu except for the tortilla and that if the staff implemented their simple allergen procedures, she could eat anything else on the menu.

Instead of following their allergy procedures, the staff member allegedly continued arguing with Russell. She told the staff member to check the Chipotle website as it would indicate that the only gluten-containing item on the menu was the tortilla.

The staff member reportedly called the manager over and said, “This is the lady with gluten.” Russell’s account states that the manager wrongly stated that everything on the menu was “filled with gluten,” even though Chipotle’s website indicates that only the flour tortillas contain gluten.

Russell says that she explained that she had eaten at Chipotle successfully many times so long as the staff changed their gloves.

The complaint states that the manager refused to instigate the allergy protocol and insisted that there was nothing safe on the menu. The manager then proceeded to tell Russell to leave the restaurant and refused to serve her.

According to Russell, later, she sent an email on the Chipotle customer service website explaining what had happened to her. A Customer Care Coordinator apologized for the incident and offered to give her a buy-one-get-one-free credit towards her next purchase.

The complaint alleges that the denial of service was motivated and caused by the restaurant’s discriminatory animus against Russell because she has food allergies, and the incident caused her distress and humiliation.

Russell’s attorney is requesting punitive and compensatory damages.