After troubled Leawood restaurant closes, Hereford House faces four new lawsuits
Following the closure of Hereford House in Leawood after a former employee admitted to contaminating food, the troubled steakhouse’s parent company faces four more lawsuits filed by former patrons Thursday.
The new claimants include a Lee’s Summit couple, a Peculiar, Missouri, woman and an Olathe man, all of whom allegedly dined at Hereford House between April 6 and April 16. All four allege they experienced some combination of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain after eating potentially tainted food.
Former Hereford House employee Jace Christian Hanson, 21, was arrested April 25 after allegedly posting videos online that showed a man urinating in restaurant food bins and rubbing food on his buttocks and genitals in the Hereford House kitchen. Following an anonymous tip, FBI agents were able to trace the videos, posted under the pseudonym “Vandalizer,” to Hanson’s cellphone.
After two rounds of charges from Johnson County prosecutors, Hanson now faces 22 counts of criminal threat for allegedly contaminating food. He also faces one count of criminal damage and 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child after the discovery of materials on his personal devices showing child sexual abuse.
Meanwhile, at least nine similar lawsuits were filed against the Hereford House Restaurant Company of Kansas Inc. between May and July as news of Hanson’s alleged actions spread. Along with physical illness, some plaintiffs are looking for damages to cover the emotional distress that came with finding out they had eaten food tainted by bodily fluids.
Like previous plaintiffs, the four people and couples who sued Hereford House on Thursday allege that the restaurant was specifically negligent in training Hanson, as well as in breaching the implied warranty that it served food safe to eat. They also allege Hereford House served a defective product by putting out tainted food, which falls under a liability claim.
All four of Thursday’s lawsuits were filed by the same attorney, Matthew Birch, a personal injury lawyer at Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman, CHTD in Kansas City.
Hereford House has denied several of the same allegations in previous lawsuits, saying that Hanson’s decision to contaminate food was outside the scope of his employment.
Along with notoriety, legal troubles and backlash from irate customers, Hereford House has reported financial difficulties since Hanson’s actions became public. The Leawood location of Hereford House served its last steak Aug. 3 after nearly 28 years in business.
“Our decision to close the Hereford House Leawood is not easy, but is necessitated by the recent events which were beyond our control,” Hereford House said in a statement to reporters Aug. 1.
Hereford House locations are still open in Shawnee and Independence, as well at Zona Rosa Town Center in the Northland.
A preliminary hearing in Hanson’s case is set to begin in Johnson County court at 9 a.m. Sept. 24.
The Star’s Andrea Klick, Robert A. Cronkleton and Laura Bauer contributed reporting to this article.
