It’s a night they’ll never forget.
A bride and groom — and dozens of their guests — were left bedridden after food catered by a bougie Brooklyn hotel at their wedding reception was found tainted with the norovirus, a new lawsuit claims.
Michael Ahern and his wife shelled out $30,000 to hold their reception at The Box House, a venue in Greenpoint, and ended up with “repeated episodes of vomiting and diarrhea,” the Independent reported.
Their nuptials were ruined by norovirus – a highly-contagious stomach bug that triggers sudden, severe vomiting and diarrhea – which had contaminated the spread, according to court papers.
“Instead of beginning their marriage by celebrating with family and friends … [they] spent the days following their wedding suffering from the debilitating effects of the norovirus outbreak caused by food served at their reception,” the lawsuit alleges.
Ahern and his wife tested positive for the virus after submitting stool samples to authorities, court papers said.
But it wasn’t just them. Thirty of the 112 guests who attended the wedding reception also allegedly fell ill with similar symptoms – and all had eaten either prosciutto, macaroni-and-cheese croquettes or a “seasonal crumble” dessert, the lawsuit said.
A spokesperson for The Box House told the outlet they were “sorry guests got sick after this wedding” and had retrained staff on cleanliness standards.
“It was meant to be one of the best nights of their lives and it wasn’t, and we understand why that still stings,” the spokesperson said.
Norovirus was spreading all throughout the city at the time, according to the spokesperson, who claimed the party had brought in some of their own food from outside the venue.
A city Department of Health report found that one employee at the Brooklyn Lantern – the hotel’s on-site restaurant – had tested positive for norovirus at the time.
However, the report said the employee hadn’t prepared any of the dishes that allegedly sickened the Aherns’ guests.
The report concluded that “specific food vehicles as a mode of transmission remain undetermined for this outbreak.”
A spokesperson for the Lantern claimed there have been no instances of norovirus at the restaurant before or since the alleged outbreak.
