A wedding reception in Brooklyn ended with a newly married couple falling ill after the celebration. Michael Ahern and his wife say they developed norovirus symptoms after attending their wedding reception at The Box House Hotel. The couple had paid about $30,000 for the hotel to cater the entire event, but instead of spending the days after their wedding celebrating, they were bedridden with vomiting, diarrhoea, chills, abdominal cramps and fatigue. Stool samples from both newlyweds later tested positive for norovirus. More than a quarter of the 112 guests reportedly became sick as well. New York City Department of Health investigation later found possible food-safety problems at the hotel, while the hotel disputed that the outbreak could be conclusively traced to its food.
What happened to the bride and groom after the wedding reception in Brooklyn
According to The Independent, the wedding took place at The Box House Hotel in Brooklyn on 30 November 2024. The couple had hired the hotel’s on-site restaurant, the Brooklyn Lantern, to provide the food and drink for their reception. Among the dishes served were prosciutto, macaroni-and-cheese croquettes and a seasonal crumble dessert. Michael Ahern ate those three items during the reception. After the celebration, he and his wife stayed overnight at the hotel, had breakfast at the Brooklyn Lantern the following morning and then returned home to Manhattan.The illness began later that day. The lawsuit states that the couple started experiencing nausea and vomiting on the evening of 1 December. By the following day, both were bedridden and suffering from repeated vomiting and diarrhoea, as well as chills, abdominal cramps and fatigue. Ahern also missed work because of the illness, with symptoms continuing for several days. The Independent reported that more than 30 of the 112 wedding guests also developed symptoms consistent with norovirus over the following days.
Findings of the Health investigation department
The growing number of illnesses prompted the New York City Department of Health to investigate the Brooklyn Lantern. Inspectors visited the restaurant and distributed stool sample kits to six food handlers who had worked at the wedding. The city’s Bureau of Communicable Disease also contacted guests by telephone in an effort to establish what they had eaten and determine how the illness had spread. The investigation eventually identified three menu items, prosciutto, macaroni-and-cheese croquettes and the seasonal crumble that all affected guests had eaten.The Department of Health said that the outbreak was likely caused by people consuming food contaminated by a food handler who had tested positive for norovirus. However, the investigation did not establish exactly which food carried the virus. The report also noted that the employee who tested positive had not reported being ill and had not prepared any of the three dishes linked to the outbreak. That distinction is important because, while the investigation pointed towards food handled by an infected worker, it did not conclusively identify a particular dish or prove exactly how contamination occurred.
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Food safety problems at the Brooklyn hotel
The investigation did identify several food-safety and sanitation concerns at the restaurant. According to The Independent’s report, health inspectors found that there was no hand soap in the restaurant’s kitchen or bar area. The complaint also says the kitchen did not have a proper thermometer for checking food temperatures. The Department of Health report described these issues as deficiencies in the restaurant’s food-safety and sanitation practices. Norovirus is highly contagious and can spread easily when contaminated hands, food or surfaces come into contact with other people. The Independent noted that the virus is commonly transmitted through the faecal-oral route, citing the American Medical Association. For the newlyweds, the alleged outbreak turned what should have been a memorable start to their marriage into several days of illness.
Response from The Box House hotel
The Box House Hotel expressed regret that guests became sick but rejected the suggestion that the outbreak could simply be attributed to the hotel. According to The Independent, the hotel had fully cooperated with the Department of Health, allowing officials access to its kitchen, records and staff. The hotel also said it followed the department’s recommendations after the investigation. Staff were retrained on handwashing and reporting illness, while the hotel said it strengthened its procedures for checking food temperatures. The restaurant and event spaces were also fully disinfected at the request of the Department of Health. The hotel said its restaurant received an ‘A’ rating at its next inspection and still holds that rating. It also reported that norovirus was widespread across New York during that winter. According to the hotel, guests had travelled between different venues during the wedding weekend, while food from other sources, including after-party pizzas, cakes and other items, was also brought in. The hotel therefore argued that it was not appropriate to conclude that the virus originated solely at The Box House.Despite the dispute, the hotel said it has hosted nearly 1,000 weddings and events over the past 15 years without experiencing another outbreak. The Department of Health also reported that no additional illness associated with The Box House Hotel or the Brooklyn Lantern had been identified after the investigation. For the couple, however, the episode remains tied to one of the most important days of their lives, a wedding celebration that was followed not by the usual memories of joy and festivities, but by several days of serious illness.
