Resort Sued for $10 Million After Mother, Son Die of Food Poisoning
A grieving Toronto man is suing a resort in the Dominican Republic for $10 million after his wife and eight-year-old son died after falling sick from food poisoning just over a year ago.
Stephen Gougeon says that he and his wife April and the couple's two sons, Oliver and Wesley, had booked a stay at the Viva Dominicus Beach by Wyndham Resort just after Christmas in 2023. Shortly after the family arrived, they ate dinner at the buffet. However, by 6 a.m. the following morning, they were "violently ill," experiencing severe nausea and vomiting.
"We were all throwing up. It progressed to a point where we had to try and seek medical attention," Gougeon told CTV News in an interview this week. He's only just now speaking out about the heartbreaking ordeal for the first time in hopes to prevent a similar tragedy from happening to anyone else. "I think people need to be aware of what can happen," he lamented.
Gougeon recalled that his family contacted management asking for help, but were told to seek treatment at the resort's onsite medical clinic. Unfortunately, that was not possible since he says they were all too sick to even make it to the bathroom. Later that afternoon, they called again and reiterated the severity of their situation.
"We had to plead again with the medical center to send somebody because it was clear we weren’t getting better," Gougeon explained.
The resort eventually sent help, and transported the family to the clinic in wheelchairs, where an ambulance took them to a local hospital.
Unfortunately, it was too late. His wife and son Oliver both continued to have difficulty breathing and died a short time later. "They degraded and then my son passed away … and then very shortly after, my wife passed away," he said through tears.
Gougeon then had the impossible task of telling his younger son Wesley, then seven, that his mother and brother had died. "It’s the worst thing—the worst thing a father and a husband will ever have to do,” he continued. "Coming home was very hard. Living life without them is extremely hard."
A coroner’s report later confirmed that April and Oliver had indeed died from secondary causes related to food poisoning. The civil lawsuit claims that the resort "failed to follow proper hygiene protocols, lacked proper emergency procedures, and did not provide a timely response to the family’s calls for help."
"I think that resorts need to have better medical practices and policies so that if someone is in my situation, they’re not having to deal with what I have to deal with—for the rest of my life," Gougeon added.
Air Transat Holidays and Transat Tours Canada, through which Gougeon and his family booked the all-inclusive vacation, have also been named in the lawsuit. He says he expected that the companies would "have high health and safety standards."
Transat spokesperson Marie-Christine Pouliot said in an email that while the company was "deeply saddened" by what had transpired, that it denies any allegations of wrongdoing. "We choose our suppliers with great care, and the hotel operator has assured us of its full cooperation with the authorities in shedding light on these tragic deaths," Pouliot added.
Attorney Meghan Hull Jacquin, who is representing the Gougeon family, said that in the end, they're hoping for some accountability. "They’re trying to make something good out of this horrific tragedy that they’ve been through and continue to live with every day," she said.