Some unfortunate news out of Yountville: 10-year-old fine-dining establishment Redd, owned by chef Richard Reddington, is facing a lawsuit in the 2014 death of 61-year-old Larry Sacknoff. The former television sportscaster from San Diego dined at Redd a full year before his death, in July 2013, and had suffered symptoms of food poisoning along with two friends he was dining with, something they all attributed to undercooked scallops that they ate there. As the Napa Valley Register reports, while Sacknoff's slightly younger friends recovered fully, his immune system was compromised after a recent heart transplant, and his ultimate cause of death in August of 2014 was complications from a Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacterial infection. Virbio is commonly found in estuarine or marine environments, and Sacknoff's daughters contend that his scallop meal at Redd was the culprit.
Per Eater, the three daughters, Kristy Keckley, Ashley Sacknoff, and Stefanie Sacknoff, are suing for an undisclosed sum. They already reached a confidential settlement with Pierless Fish Corp., Redd’s Brooklyn-based scallop supplier, who were named as co-defendants in the suit.
In response to the Sacknoff family's complaint shortly after their father's illness, local health inspectors arrived at Redd in early August 2013 and gave the restaurant a B grade, citing undercooking of scallops specifically. They said scallops ought to be cooked to a temperature of 145 degrees, but scallops prepared during the inspection were served between 108 and 132 degrees.
The restaurant has not been able to comment on the ongoing case.