2 families sue Huntley High School district after E. coli outbreak caused students’ ‘permanent injuries’

A year after an E. coli outbreak at Huntley High School sickened 16 people, sent six to the emergency room and put two in the hospital, Huntley Community School District 158 is facing a lawsuit.

Two parents, Jacqueline Stout and Steven Kutrubis, are suing the district on behalf of their children, Aiden Stout and Nathan Kutrubis, who were freshmen.

The suit, filed Sept. 10 in McHenry County court, contends the school district committed “willful and wanton negligence” by knowingly allowing a food service employee to handle food in the Huntley High cafeteria when the employee had E. coli.

District 158 did not provide comment on the lawsuit despite multiple requests. The district also has not yet filed a formal response in court, records show.

Fifteen of the 16 people who were sickened with E. coli last fall ate food from the Huntley High cafeteria, according to the health department’s report and the lawsuit. All 15 ate a sandwich from the cold sandwich station, and in all known cases, the sandwiches had lettuce, according to the lawsuit. The first news of the E. coli illnesses at the high school came on Sept. 21 of last year.

The McHenry County Department of Health said in a report on the outbreak that the department was notified about the first cases of the illness on Sept. 17, 2023, and opened an investigation the next day.

‘We all suffered’

Kate Kutrubis said her son suffered a brain injury and was unresponsive in the hospital. He also had two seizures and had to be placed on a special device to try to keep his body temperature down because it got dangerously high, she said.

Kutrubis’ son also had to have dialysis during much of his hospital stay. He was in the hospital for several weeks, until about Halloween, which his mother said included some time at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, where he had to relearn how to walk.

After his release, he needed physical, speech and occupational therapy three hours a day, three days a week.

“We sent a perfectly healthy child to school (and then) this happened,” Kutrubis said.

Her son needs lab work done every six months, possibly for the rest of his life. A recent ultrasound indicated his kidneys still have healing to do, his mother said.

The whole experience was traumatizing for the family, she said, but she is grateful her son is recovering.

Jacqueline Stout said her son was hospitalized for eight days. He was in the pediatric ICU and experienced kidney failure. He was very weak and very sick, she said.

Her son will need to have his blood checked every three months for the rest of his life, although the frequency might eventually decrease. He now brings his lunch from home and doesn’t eat cafeteria food.

“My son suffered. We all suffered. It was a horrible thing,” Stout said.

‘Permanent injuries’

In addition to “permanent physical emotional and psychological injuries,” the teens suffered “disability and disfigurement in the past and will in the future,” the suit contends.

The lawsuit also states the district is liable to the plaintiffs for “the harm proximately caused by its manufacture and sale of an unsafe and defective food product ... with a deadly pathogen.”

The lawsuit also alleges the families were on the hook for all the medical expenses stemming from their sons’ hospitalizations. An affidavit in the lawsuit indicates the plaintiffs are seeking more than $100,000 in monetary damages. The families also are requesting permission to seek additional damages later.

The civil lawsuit against the school district has been given a court date of Dec. 10.