TALLAHASSEE – The defendant in a Florida lawsuit filed over carrots allegedly contaminated with E. coli wants the suit moved to a federal court.
Grimmway Enterprises Inc. filed its removal notice Oct. 15. It wants plaintiff Robert Horton’s lawsuit moved from the Second Judicial Circuit in and for Leon County to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division.
Horton filed his complaint in the state court Aug. 11, alleging products liability, negligence, and warranty claims against Grimmway and co-defendant Costco Wholesale Corporation.
According to his complaint, Horton bought a bag of contaminated carrots from Costco between Aug. 15, 2024 and Sept. 30, 2024. He alleges the carrots – grown, prepared, marketed, and sold by Grimmway – contained E. coli.
He alleges he suffered “bodily injury in and about his body and extremities, resulting in pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, permanent and significant scarring, mental anguish, loss of the capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalization, medical and nursing care and treatment, loss of earning, loss of ability to earn money, aggravation of previously existing condition and/or activation of a latent condition.”
He said his losses are either “permanent or continuing.”
Last November, Grimmway issued a recall of its organic whole carrots and organic baby carrots, saying the vegetables may have been contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
E. coli can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, elderly people, and those with a weakened immune system.
Grimmway, in its eight-page removal notice, argues federal court is the better venue for Horton’s lawsuit.
It points to the plaintiff’s own initial disclosures filing, submitted along with his complaint, in which he identified his damages. Grimmway notes that Horton claims his past medical bills or expenses total $297,866.90 and that they are anticipated to “continue to rise as additional treatment is incurred.”
In federal court, the “amount in controversy” refers to the monetary value of a plaintiff’s claim. This must exceed $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, for diversity jurisdiction.
There also must be complete diversity of citizenship.
In this case, the plaintiff is a Gadsden County, Florida, citizen. Grimmway is incorporated in California; Costco’s principal place of business is Washington.
Grimmway also noted in its request that Costco consented to the removal of the lawsuit.
“As Plaintiff is a citizen of Florida and Defendants are not Florida citizens, diversity of citizenship exists. The amount in controversy is met as evidenced by Plaintiff’s Complaint and Rule 1.280(a) Disclosures,” the removal notice states.
“With satisfaction of both the diversity and amount in controversy requirements, and with the consent of the other defendant, this action is removable to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441.”
Melissa D. Krepps of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP in Orlando is representing Grimmway.
