Teenager Sues Event Company For Choking Of Dad In Taco Eating Contest

A California man choked to death during an amateur taco eating contest in 2019. His son is now suing the event’s organizers for negligence.

The lawsuit filed Monday by Marshall Hutchings, 18, alleges his father, Dana Hutchings, was not made aware of the risks and danger involved in an eating competition. The contest was held during a Fresno Grizzlies game on Aug. 13, 2019 where the 41-year-old died after choking on tacos. Participants competed to eat as many tacos as possible within a certain amount of time.

The suit names Fresno Sports and Events, the owner of the Grizzlies, reported ABC News.

“We won't be making any public comments," Grizzlies President Derek Frank said.

Hutchings’ attorney Martin Taleisnik said that professionals in the sport of competitive eating, train and prepare themselves physically to participate in such contests. “But that is not always present in an amateur eating contest. The conductors of this event should have made the risks known to the competitors and taken steps to protect them," Taleisnik said.

In another incident, a family got $2 million after a teenager with autism choked to death on a chicken nugget at a Florida high school, reported New York Daily News.

The incident took place on Aug. 13, 2019 when Kedar Williams, a special needs student at William T. Dwyer High in Palm Beach Gardens, started choking while eating chicken nuggets. He was quickly taken to a nearby hospital but died.

Williams was mostly non-verbal and prone to choking. He was supposed to have his own in-school aide assist him during lunch and monitor him. However, the school was understaffed. An aide was working with two students. That aide was assisting the other student when Williams tried to swallow a big chicken piece. Then he started choking and ended up having a seizure.

As part of the settlement, principals, teachers and other employees who work with special needs students will be required to take extra training. The program will be named after Kedar.

“His parents are pleased not only with the settlement, but they are most proud of the fact they fought for their son and fought for a training program designed to address the deficiencies that led to Kedar’s death,” said Sia Baker-Barnes, a lawyer who represents Kedar’s mother, Megan Williams.