DANBURY, Conn. (WTNH) — A judge ruled earlier this month that Stew Leonard's employees are not liable for the death of a 25-year-old New York dancer who died from an allergic reaction after eating cookies sold at their Danbury store.

The family of Órla Baxendale, a New York dancer who died in January 2024 from a fatal allergic reaction, filed a lawsuit against the Connecticut grocery store chain in May 2024, alleging that the company did not declare peanuts on the product label for Stew Leonard's Vanilla Florentine Cookies, which she consumed before she died.

The Vanilla Florentine Cookies were produced by Cookies United, a wholesaler based in Islip, New York, and labeled with the Stew Leonard’s brand name. They were sold exclusively at the Danbury and Newington stores.

The lawsuit stat

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