Trial Magazine

E.H., 10, went with family members to Dehn’s Pumpkins, a Minnesota pumpkin patch. The premises included a petting zoo where children could pet and feed cows housed in a feedlot behind a metal gate. E.H. spent some time petting and feeding the cows.

Several days later, she began suffering fever, cramps, and diarrhea. When her symptoms worsened, her parents took her to a hospital emergency room, where staff diagnosed an E. coli infection. The infection led to hemolytic uremic syndrome—a severe complication that results when toxins from the bacteria enter the patient’s bloodstream and find their way to the kidneys. Although E.H. recovered, she sustained permanent kidney damage—including a 50-percent loss of kidney function—and will likely require dialysis and a kidney transplant in the future. Her past medical expenses totaled about $300,000, and her future medical expenses are estimated at about $2 million.

Six other people who visited the pumpkin patch around the same time also fell ill.

E.H.’s parents, on her behalf, sued the owners of Dehn’s, alleging that they failed to keep patrons safe from diseases that cows could transmit. The plaintiffs contended that the owners should have taken steps such as placing hand-washing stations near the animal enclosure and posting warnings alerting patrons to the risk of bacterial contamination. 

The plaintiffs presented evidence that on the day E.H. and her family visited the premises, there was manure in the ­enclosure where the cows were kept, as well as on the hay, the cows’ hides and hooves, and the gate that separated the children from the cows. Despite this, the plaintiffs claimed, the owners took no precautions and provided hand sanitizer only at a concession stand. The plaintiffs’ expert public health veterinarians testified that proper facility design would have prevented E.H.’s infection.

In addition to medical expenses and pain and suffering, the plaintiffs sought damages for their daughter’s lost future earning capacity based on an expert nephrologist’s testimony regarding how dialysis and transplant would limit E.H.’s  employability. 

The owners testified that they were unaware diseases could be transmitted to patrons visiting the petting zoo and that most small pumpkin patch operators were similarly unaware. The defendants also asserted that because they provided alcohol-based hand sanitizer throughout the property, they satisfied any duty to prevent zoonotic disease. This hand sanitizer, they argued, was just as effective as hand-washing. The defendants also argued that E.H.’s chaperones knew that the hand sanitizer was available and important but failed to make sure she used it before eating.

The jury awarded $7.55 million, including $3 million for lost future earning capacity; $2 million for future medical expenses; $2 million for future pain and suffering; and $250,000 for past pain and suffering, emotional distress, and embarrassment. 

Before posttrial motions, the parties settled the case for the policy limits plus interest and costs.

Citation: Heidish v. Dehn’s Pumpkins, No. 27-CV-14-1706 (Minn. Dist. Ct. Hennepin Cnty. Nov. 22, 2016).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Fred Pritzker, Brendan Flaherty, and Lindsay Lien Rinholen, all of Minneapolis.

Plaintiff experts: Jeff Bender, public health veterinary medicine/animal exhibit and petting zoo safety, St. Paul, Minn.; Heidi Kassenborg, veterinary medicine/animal exhibit and petting zoo safety, Afton, Minn.; and Ann Endy, life care planning, Excelsior, Minn.