Family Of Woman Who Died In Mendham Hep A Outbreak Sues Golf Club

MENDHAM, NJ — The family of a woman who died after contracting Hepatitis A from a Mendham golf club has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the club.

Dorothy Del Guercio, 82, of Mendham, died on Aug. 20, nearly two months after eating at the Mendham Golf & Tennis Club with her husband, Earnest Del Guercio, Sr., the lawsuit says. She contracted Hepatitis A from an infected food handler who was working at the club, New Jersey Department of Health Officials said previously.

Twenty-seven people contracted Hepatitis A either from eating at the club, or being in contact with someone who ate at the club, health officials said in August. Del Guercio is the only reported death. Del Guercio, Sr. was also sickened, the lawsuit says.

The general manager for the club, Joe Kelly, declined to comment, saying the club will not comment on any legal or potential legal matters.

Del Guercio's son and executor of her estate, Earnest Del Guercio, Jr., filed suit against the country club in Bergen County Superior Court. The family says that the Mendham Golf & Tennis club knew their employee was sick, but failed to take proper action. They also allege that the country club failed to practice proper food safety techniques.

"As a proximate result of the negligence and recklessness of [the defendants]... Dorothy Del Guercio suffered severe, painful and permanent injuries, including and prolonged and intense period of agony, pre-morbid terror, and physical and emotional pain and suffering, which ultimately resulted in her death," the lawsuit says.

The family is seeking a jury trial, and unspecific punitive and compensatory damages.

Del Guerico was a well-known member of the local dance community, having run the Dorothy Del Guercio School of Dance since the mid 1970s. She volunteered to provide choreography to local community productions, and taught movement classes in juvenile detention halls and senior centers, her obituary says.

The state Department of Health previously said the golf club food handler had been following all hand hygiene and glove use rules, but was unaware he was sick.

Members of the Mendham Golf & Tennis Club were notified about the potential exposure around July 5, the state said, and all unvaccinated people who may have been exposed were told to get post-exposure prophylaxis by July 14. Secondary cases could have developed until Aug. 19, which is 50 days from when the food handler was last infectious.

State health officials conducted food safety training following the outbreak, including one that focused on hand-washing.

Hepatitis A is a liver disease, which can cause fever, stomach pain, dark yellow urine, and jaundice. Most people recover within a few weeks, but it can be serious in some people.