ORLANDO, Fla. — The husband of a New York doctor who died shortly after dining at a Disney Springs restaurant last year accused Walt Disney Parks and Resorts of negligence in a 19-page lawsuit filed in Florida.
Jeffrey Piccolo is seeking more than $50,000 for the wrongful death of Kanokporn Tangsuan, a doctor at New York University Langone Hospital in Manhattan, in the lawsuit filed on February 22 in Orange County, Florida.
The lawsuit states that Tangsuan dined at Raglan Road Irish Pub with her husband and his mother on October 5, 2023. Tangsuan had a severe allergy to nuts and dairy products and told the waiter she needed “allergen-free food.”
According to the lawsuit, the couple questioned the waiter about several items on the menu. The waiter then asked the chef “if certain foods could be made allergen-free,” before returning to the table and confirming that this was possible.
The couple asked the waiter several more times to be absolutely sure the food would be allergen-free before Tangsuan ordered a fritter, scallops and onion rings, the lawsuit said.
When the food arrived, some items did not contain “allergen-free flags,” prompting the doctor and her husband to ask the waiter if the items were nut and dairy free. The waiter “guaranteed” the food was allergen-free, the lawsuit said.
Around 8 p.m., after dinner, the doctor and her mother-in-law went shopping separately at Disney Springs while Piccolo returned to their room with the leftover food, the lawsuit said.
About 45 minutes later, Tangsuan had trouble breathing when she entered Planet Hollywood and fell to the ground. According to the lawsuit, she self-administered an epi-pen while suffering from the allergic reaction.
Her mother-in-law began calling to meet her, but the calls went unanswered, according to the lawsuit. The mother-in-law returned to the hotel and called Tangsuan’s phone again. This time someone replied and said that Tangsuan had been taken to a hospital.
The doctor died at the hospital, the lawsuit said.
A medical examiner’s examination revealed that she died due to “anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nuts in her system,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Raglan Road failed to educate, train and/or instruct its employees to ensure food is allergen-free.
Walt Disney World and Great Irish Pubs Florida did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the lawsuit.