A waiter in Quebec was arrested this week after an incident that could have a serious ripple effects for the restaurant industry in Canada and abroad.
Simon-Pierre Canuel suffered a severe allergic reaction when dining at Le Tapageur in Sherbrooke, Quebec that ultimately resulted in cardiac arrest and the customer falling into a coma. According to Canuel’s formal complaint against his server, he ordered beef tartare and informed the server that he had a very serious salmon and seafood allergy. Once his meal arrived, Canuel started in on his food only to discover that what he was eating was not beef. Canuel informed his partner, a resident doctor.
“He confirmed that it was salmon and he said we had to go to hospital,” explained Canuel. “We told the waiter, who apologized, saying he would bring me beef. That’s when I started going into anaphylactic shock and having difficulty breathing.”
Canuel says the allergic reaction brought on cardiac arrest the following day and he fell into a coma for several days. A formal complaint would eventually be filed with the police arresting the waiter over the allergy incident. The matter is seen as quite possibly the first of its kind when it comes to waiters and criminal negligence with anything from a fine to life in prison on the table if the server is found guilty. Previous precedent in other fields suggests that a prison sentence is unlikely, but this is relatively uncharted waters. Canuel alleging that the arrested waiter did not inform the cooks of the allergy issue and instead chose to chat and drink with other guests doesn’t paint the accused in a particularly flattering light.
The owner of Le Tapageur has not yet commented on the matter. She informed Radio Canada that she will be speaking with a lawyer first before publicly addressing the situation.
(Via CBC)
