Several more lawsuits filed against Hereford House after food contamination (2024)

Published: Jun. 13, 2024 at 11:56 AM CDT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Several more lawsuits have been filed against Hereford House for negligence following the arrest of a man who purposefully contaminated their food.

Johnson County, Kan., District Court records indicate that on Monday, June 11, three new cases were filed against Hereford House Restaurant Company of Kansas following an incident that happened at its Leawood location.

Court documents indicated that Luz Gomez sued the company after she fell ill following a lunch she had at the establishment on April 19. Her symptoms were consistent with food poisoning.

The second suit indicated that Robert Rhodes, Margaret Rhodes, Mary Repine and Thomas Walsh met for dinner at the establishment on April 8. After their reservation, the four fell ill with symptoms also consistent with food poisoning.

The third suit filed on Monday noted that Jeanette Leatherbury ate dinner at the restaurant on April 10, after which she also fell ill for days.

All three suits alleged that Hereford House was negligent, breached implied warranty and is strictly liable for Hanson’s actions. All three suits also claimed that the diners have all experienced emotional and psychological trauma since they became aware of the series of events that led to their illnesses.

The suits also claim that all of the victims continue to suffer from anxiety because of Hanson’s actions under the company’s employment.

Court records noted that the suits filed by Blair and Dawn Hawkins, McHarlan and Barbara Bishop, and Chad Cristopher in May were also extended to give Hereford Hosue more time to answer the petition.

Meanwhile, court documents showed that the suits filed by Diane and Michael Fogarty as well as Andrew, John, Michael and Paula Patterson and Stephanie Like and Kelli Sexton have all been served to the company unanswered.

The suits follow the arrest of Jace Hanson, 21, of Kansas City, after it was found that during his employment at the Leawood location, he intentionally contaminated the food. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it had received a tip about an online video that showed him contaminating the food he prepared with bodily substances.

After Hanson’s Hereford House arrest, court documents also revealed he had been in possession of media that depicted child p*rnography before his arrest.

As of Thursday, June 13, Hanson remains behind bars on 22 counts of criminal threat, a single count of criminal damage and 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. His bond has been increased to $500,000.

As a result of Hanson’s arrest, Hereford House officials said they were disturbed and angered by his actions.

Everyone connected with the Hereford House restaurant in Leawood is disturbed, even angered, by the food tampering that occurred at that location in April. Until the release of the affidavit on Wednesday concerning defendant’s actions and statements, we were unable to publicly address the situation as we were learning the details released by law enforcement authorities at the same time as the news media and the public. Now, with the release of this information, we can make a few comments. First and foremost, we have always placed a high priority on the integrity of the food we serve our customers. We learned of the tampering on April 25th when the Leawood Police Department arrived at the restaurant asking to speak to the defendant, who had only been an employee for a month. They spoke with him, obtained the statements from him contained in the affidavit and took him into custody. We immediately destroyed all the food in the kitchen and did a thorough cleaning and sanitizing of the kitchen and surrounding areas. We also immediately spoke with the health authorities from the State of Kansas responsible for restaurant inspections. We described the situation and the steps we had taken thus far. We asked if there were other steps we should take and they indicated we had taken all the appropriate steps. We continue to stay in touch with the state health authorities to keep them apprised of developments. Based on the affidavit, we can now also narrow down the number of days the defendant was working during the time he was tampering with food. According to the affidavit, the defendant says the tampering occurred between roughly April 6th and April 23rd. In that span, the defendant worked 12 days. We want to thank the Leawood Police Department for their quick action on the April 25th tip from the FBI that the potential for food tampering at the Leawood restaurant was occurring. We will continue to work with law enforcement authorities and report any further information we learn to our customers. Finally, we want to thank our loyal customer base. Please know that we are just as upset and disturbed by this situation as you are. And we will continue to work hard to earn your trust and business.

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