Yountville’s Redd Restaurant named in wrongful death lawsuit

A high-end Yountville restaurant is named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a San Diego man that claims he became fatally ill after eating shellfish.

Redd Restaurant is accused of serving undercooked and contaminated scallops to Larry Sacknoff and two dinner companions in July 2013.

The suit, filed in Napa County Superior Court, alleges all three suffered symptoms consistent with vibrio parahaemolyticus within hours of the meal. Sacknoff, a heart transplant recipient, was stricken by complications and died 13 months later.

His children, Kristy Keckley, Ashley Sacknoff and Stefanie Sacknoff, along with fellow diners Mary and John Papas of Palm Desert, are seeking damages for what they say is the restaurant’s failure to issue warnings about seafood and for not cooking the scallops properly.

“Larry’s fragile condition simply could not handle the vibrio pathogen,” the lawsuit stated. “And the vibriosis set Larry on a fatal path from which he was unable to recover.”

A Brooklyn, N.Y.-based seafood supplier, Pierless Fish Corp., also was named as a defendant but reached an out-of-court settlement for undisclosed terms.

Pierless owner Robert DeMasco said Friday the lawsuit was “a fraud,” claiming it is impossible to get vibrio from eating scallops. But he said his insurance company settled anyway to avoid an expensive trial.

He said he believed the actual cause of the customers’ illness was sushi they ate two nights earlier.

“You can get any ambulance-chaser lawyer to do this,” DeMasco said. “This is why society is so messed up.”

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Ahmed Diab of San Diego, did not return a call Friday seeking comment.

The restaurant, run by chef Richard Reddington, referred calls to the Moana Restaurant Group, based in San Rafael.

A spokeswoman would not immediately make a statement when reached by phone Friday.

“It’s an open case,” spokeswoman Tami Von Isakovics said.

Reddington, a highly regarded chef, owns a pizzeria in Yountville called Redd Wood.

According to the suit, Sacknoff and Mary and John Papas dined at his Washington Street restaurant, ordering a shared scallop appetizer and a scallop entree for Sacknoff.

Later that day, all three became ill with symptoms of food poisoning that included severe diarrhea followed by dehydration.

The Papases, who had just embarked on a six-week vacation, experienced symptoms through late August.

Sacknoff, who already suffered a compromised immune system from his heart transplant, fared worse, the suit said.

Testing confirmed he was infected with vibrio and his health spiraled downward, with multiple hospitalizations, until he died Aug. 16, 2014.

The Napa County Public Health Department was notified of the positive vibrio test and launched an investigation into the suspected source - sautéed scallops.

The dish later was linked to multiple illnesses, the suit alleges.

Around the time of the meal, Napa County planning, building and environmental services officials inspected the restaurant and found it failed to observe proper cooking times and temperatures, the suit stated.

Scallops were found to be cooked between 108 and 132 degrees, below a 145-degree requirement, according to the suit.

An inspector noted the restaurant failed to post a consumer advisory of the condition as required by law, the suit stated.

The regulation is due in part to the dangers of vibrio, which is responsible for 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the United States each year, according to the suit.

“This is an egregious violation of well-established food-safety regulations by a restaurant that served seafood on a daily basis,” according to the suit.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemo crat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.