The family of a Georgia man is suing after he suffered a severe and ultimately fatal reaction to a pasta dish at a Las Vegas restaurant. Abraham Kenneth Ezra Williams, 30, who had a shellfish allergy, began reacting shortly after taking one bite of pesto. He had been enjoying a Vegas trip with his girlfriend and some friends when the tragic event unfolded.
“The family wants answers. Their son came to Vegas … and never made it back out,” attorney Jamie McInelly tells Allergic Living. Williams died on April 30, 2023 after being on a ventilator following his devastating reaction. The family’s wrongful death lawsuit was filed in late December 2024.
Williams ordered dinner on April 16, 2023 and told the Beauty & Essex restaurant at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Hotel about his shellfish allergy. He asked whether the spaghettini with pesto sauce was safe for him. According to the lawsuit, staff said it was free of shellfish.
But Williams immediately felt sick after eating a single bite, and rushed to the restroom. His friends found he was struggling to breathe and took him outside, according to the lawsuit. It is believed that someone from the hotel called 911, McInelly says. The complaint implies the anaphylactic reaction progressed swiftly and Williams lay collapsed on the floor outside.
The lawsuit alleges that restaurant and hotel staff “stood by watching as Decedent remained breathless, choking for air, and provided no assistance of any kind.” The complaint also contends that employees created a barricade around Williams and “refused to let anyone through to perform any lifesaving techniques.”
The hotel and restaurant did not respond to Allergic Living’s request for comment.
Vegas Lawsuit: ‘Avoidable Tragedy’
“This was definitely an avoidable incident. It’s a tragedy that should have never happened,” says McInelly of Christian Morris Trial Attorneys. The law firm is representing Williams’ family in the the Las Vegas-based lawsuit, filed in Nevada’s Clark County District Court.
Once the ambulance arrived, the EMS administered epinephrine. They gave Williams another dose of epinephrine in the ambulance, en route to Las Vegas’s Sunrise Hospital. But the man had suffered respiratory and cardiac arrest and at the hospital was put on a ventilator, the lawsuit states. He was taken off the ventilator on April 28 and died two days later.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Williams’ parents Kenneth and Rochelle Williams, who live in Georgia. Angela Gaboury, an administrator of Williams’ estate, is also a plaintiff.
The Williams family’s Las Vegas lawsuit lists multiple defendants, including the restaurant, the hotel, the Clark County Fire Department, and Community Ambulance. The complaint accuses them all of negligence, failing to take action and properly respond to Abraham Williams’ medical emergency.
The family is seeking a jury trial, monetary compensation, and punitive damages against the defendants.
The lawsuit accuses the restaurant of liability for serving a meal that was “contaminated with known allergens.” It is not known if the meal contained shellfish or had been cross-contaminated with the allergen.
When a diner informs restaurant staff that they have an allergy, “it should never be a situation where that ends up being disregarded,” McInelly says. The attorney does not know whether Williams was carrying his own epinephrine auto-injector.
Vegas Tragedy: Seeking Justice, Answers
As Williams was suffering a severe allergic reaction, the employees did not help him by performing CPR or other medical aid, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint uses terms including “negligent, intentional and malicious” to describe the restaurant employees’ conduct.
The Vegas lawsuit’s accusations include “ignoring numerous signs and warning that Decedent emergency medical treatment was required, failing to timely administer and/or call for aid, and failing to train employees on how to handle medical emergencies.”
The legal action also names emergency responders for negligence and improper care of Williams. (The fire department said it had no comment on the case.)
The complaint states that the EMS ambulance personnel didn’t follow proper procedures. For example, the complaint accuses EMS responders of failure to properly intubate, monitor cardiac arrest and administer oxygen in a timely manner.
“There are a lot of questions of how this happened, why this happened,” McInelly says. “Obviously, we can’t bring him back. But getting the answers and getting justice for finding out what happened is really what the family wants.”
Worrisome Trend for Allergic Diners
Williams’ death from anaphylaxis points to a disturbing pattern of incidents that relate to the safe handling of restaurant meals for food-allergic diners. News of tragedies has emerged that’s tied to communication about food allergy safety.
- Dominique Brown. The 34-year-old Disney influencer and co-creator of @Blackgirldisney, died of a severe food allergy reaction in December 2024 while attending a holiday event. Colleagues attending say she had spoken up about her peanut allergy and was told that food she was about to eat was safe. But Brown suffered a severe allergic reaction at the event in Los Angeles, and died.
- Alison Pickering. The Texas student, who was 23, died in May 2023 after suffering a severe allergic reaction. She was on a first date at a restaurant and ordered a meal she had eaten safely before with her peanut allergy. But she and the restaurant servers were unaware that the dish now contained a peanut sauce. Her parents in late 2024 spoke out on the need for better restaurant menu transparency.
- Dr. Kanokporn (Amy) Tangsuan. The New York physician, died of a severe allergic reaction in October 2023 after eating at the Raglan Road Irish Pub in the Disney Springs shopping and dining complex. Her husband filed a lawsuit, saying the 42-year-old’s fatal reaction was triggered by food she ate at the restaurant. The complaint says that her meal was not safe for her dairy and nut allergies, despite assurances from pub staff.
Related Reading:
20-Year-Old Dies of Peanut Allergy – That He Didn’t Know He Had
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