Waiter arrested after allergic diner is served dish that puts him in coma
Quebec case could be the first of its kind if the accused, allegedly told twice about customer’s seafood sensitivity, is criminally charged
One bite of salmon tartare: that’s all it allegedly took to push Simon-Pierre Canuel, who has a severe seafood allergy, to the brink of death.
Police say Canuel swallowed the fish, collapsed to the floor and ended up in the hospital for five days, where his heart stopped and he went into a coma.
Then, in what legal experts say could be the first case of its kind in Canada, the waiter who is alleged to have served the dish was arrested and could face a criminal charge.
Martin Carrier, a police spokesman in Sherbrooke, Que., confirmed the waiter was arrested Wednesday. He added that the local Crown office is deciding whether to charge the 22-year-old with criminal negligence, since it is alleged he was told twice about Canuel’s fish allergy.
The young man has been released from custody after promising to appear in court should a charge be laid, Carrier said. “We’ve never seen something like this.” Carrier said Canuel took the fateful nibble at a tapas bar in downtown Sherbrooke called Le Tapageur. A restaurant manager declined to comment when contacted by the Star on Thursday.
Reached at his first aid business in Outaouais, Que., Canuel was exasperated. On top of his brush with death and his ensuing recovery, he said he’s been barraged by calls and emails from journalists across North America.
Asked how he’s doing, Canuel, 34, said he’s in relatively good health, but that he’s still shaken by the experience. “At the moment it’s pretty scary,” he said.
The salmon-induced near-miss happened about 9 p.m. on May 29, Carrier said, recounting the story based on police interviews with Canuel and other witnesses.
Canuel and his partner arrived at Le Tapageur and told the staff of the salmon allergy at the door, Carrier said. When it was time to order, Canuel went with the beef tartare.
“(The waiter) didn’t take note of this. He never went to alert the chefs,” Carrier alleged.
The food arrived and Canuel and his partner were ready to eat.
“The light, it was dark a bit at night. He never noticed that he had been given the wrong dish,” Carrier said. “He took one bite and he noticed it was salmon. He started having a severe allergic reaction. He lost consciousness.”
Carrier said Canuel collapsed to the floor of the restaurant, where he was given CPR before he was rushed to hospital. He was there for five days, during which time he went into cardiac arrest and was in a coma for 48 hours, Carrier said.
Canuel filed a complaint with the local police on July 21, Carrier said.
“These are grave consequences,” he said, adding that he believes a criminal negligence charge against the waiter would be a Canadian first for someone serving food.
Canuel told the Star that he wants to see the waiter charged and has sent letters to the restaurant warning the owners that he intends to sue for damages.
Daniel Brown, a criminal defence lawyer in Toronto, said he was sur- prised to learn a waiter could face criminal charges for serving potentially fatal food. He would expect a case like this to be handled in a lawsuit in the civil courts. Brown said the threshold to prove criminal negligence involves the “wanton, reckless disregard” for human life, which is a higher bar than would be necessary in a civil suit.
“It would be extremely rare to see a case like this make its way into the criminal courts,” Brown said. “It must make a lot of waiters uneasy.”
Jason Katz, a personal injury lawyer who works on restaurant liability cases, echoed Brown, saying he was not aware of any Canadian precedent for criminal charges relating to serving allergic customers dangerous dishes. But he was quick to add that, in his mind, a case like Canuel’s would probably succeed in a civil suit against the restaurant.
“I don’t think any jury in this province or country would suggest to you if there isn’t a breach of that standard of care and that duty to a customer in those circumstances,” he said.