Owner of failed sandwich shop sues health agency over sickness claims
The owner of a defunct downtown sandwich shop has sued the state Department of Health in federal court, claiming the agency ruined him when he was accused of making food that sickened dozens of state workers at a holiday party last year.
Shannon Quintana, who owned the short-lived and since-closed Bad Ass Sandwich Co. at 135 W. Palace Ave., claims the state Department of Health acted negligently in organizing its Dec. 14, 2016, holiday luncheon, which Quintana was hired to cater.
About 70 department staff members reported experiencing gastrointestinal distress after the event; headlines describing a state health agency ravaged by food poisoning quickly went viral online.
Quintana, who said he was offered $1,875 to cater the luncheon, prepared more than 500 pounds of hot food — a menu that included lemon pepper chicken, balsamic steak, mashed potatoes and green chile calabacitas.
In his complaint, Quintana wrote that a department staffer informed him after the event that the agency had determined “the common denominator” food item to blame had been “narrowed” to either the steak or dessert. Quintana said he did not provide dessert; the Department of Health attendees made and brought desserts from home, he claimed.
Nevertheless, Quintana said he was blamed by the state agency for the illnesses, costing him his reputation.
“They didn’t know if their food
got their employees sick or my food yet they lied to the media and buried and defamed me in the public eye,” he wrote.
Paul Rhien, a spokesman for the Department of Health, said in an email that agency epidemiologists had confirmed a bacteria commonly associated with food-borne illnesses had caused the outbreak after the luncheon. But which specific food item might have caused the outbreak was never determined, he added.
“We believe that there may have been cross-contamination of menu items served by the vendor during the luncheon,” Rhien said.
Quintana, in his suit, wrote: “If you can’t trust the New Mexico Department of Health, who can you trust?”
A week after the luncheon, Quintana was hit with a notice of violation by state Environment Department inspectors when they discovered his restaurant did not have a permit to cater events.
Quintana claims he did not need one. In his lawsuit, he wrote, “I ran a sandwich shop. No catering permit is needed to serve my menu. Which they did not order.”
The Bad Ass Sandwich Co. was battered by outside concerns in its short tenure at the West Palace location.
Aside from the Department of Health kerfuffle, the sandwich joint was hit with a lawsuit by a similarly named Utah-based coffee chain, which claimed trademark infringement.
Quintana, who told The New Mexican last year the name for his shop was inspired by its proximity to Burro Alley, removed a donkey from his sandwich shop’s logo and changed the name from Bad Ass to Kick Ass, to little avail. The shop closed after roughly a year in business.
A new eatery that targeted downtown workers, Bobbito’s, moved into the space soon after.
Bobbito’s also closed in short order, with the building’s owner claiming the restaurant owed thousands in back rent.