Man Sues Blue Bell Creameries Over Alleged 2013 Listeria Infection

Blue Bell Creameries can't catch a break: A 32-year-old man is suing the ice cream company over a severe illness. According to the Dallas Morning News, David Philip Shockley filed a lawsuit in Austin this week against Blue Bell saying that he "damn near died" after eating the company's product. Shockley, who worked at a Houston retirement community, claims he "consumed a variety of Blue Bell ice cream products contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes," in 2013.

Shockley notes he developed a "severe listeriosis infection" which migrated to his brain and caused "extensive damage, leaving him unconscious and near death." The lawsuit adds that he is now unable to work and has to be cared for by his parents. Food safety attorney Fred Pritzker believes that "all of these problems are without question a result of the listeriorsis."

The Texas Center for Disease Control and Prevention has not identified Shockley's lawsuit as linked to the Listeria outbreak that affected Blue Bell earlier this year. The ice cream company voluntarily recalled all of its products in April over Listeria fears. The ice cream has been linked to three deaths and additional illnesses. Since the recall — which many estimate cost the company at least $10 million — Blue Bell has laid off 1,450 employees.