Lawsuit filed over ants in cafeteria food

YOUNGSTOWN — The mother of a Boardman High School student is seeking more than $75,000, claiming the girl ingested ants in her cafeteria food.

LaShawn Taylor of Matthews Road filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court against the school board. Taylor is the mother of Cajian Little, a student at the school.

It contends that in January, the girl was eating food “prepared, assembled and provided” to her by the school. The food was “contaminated with ants and she ingested a portion of the contaminated food,” the lawsuit said.

The girl sustained nausea, vomiting, cramping and anxiety after eating the food and required emergency medical treatment, it said. She was unable to eat for three or four days and suffered physical effects for two weeks.

Superintendent Frank Lazzeri said the incident was explained to him that the girl found “an ant” in the food.

The school district contacted the Mahoning County District Board of Health, which inspected the cafeteria when the girl complained of illness. The district also turned the matter over to its insurance carrier.

“No one else in the cafeteria complained about ants in their food or saw any ants,” Lazzeri said.

The school’s cafeteria workers have served “tens of thousands” of meals over the years and never had complaints about insects in the food, he said.