A Utah woman who had to give up her dream of making it on Broadway after being infected with E. coli O157: H7 from a chicken salad sold by Costco has settled her case against the Seattle-based wholesaler.

Chloe Rodgerson, 21, sued Costco after her medical bills topped $2 million and after she obtained a kidney transplant from her husband, Josh Batstone.

In an apparent undisclosed settlement resulting from mediation in the case, attorneys for both Rodgerson and Costco asked Judge Robert J. Shelby to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning its over and cannot be brought back to court.

Rodgerson ate chicken salad laced with E. coli in October 2015 after her father bought the food item at a Lehi, UT Costco store. From age five until she was sickened with E. coli, Rodgerson was working on a promising performing arts career with the goal of getting to Broadway.

Her complaint against Costco said Rodgerson would require a lifetime of medical care with the potential for future medical bills that will run into the millions. She’s suffered from depression and discouragement after “numerous painful surgeries” and experiencing severe headaches, seizures, abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, and nausea. She’s lost both her career opportunities and likely any hope of having children.

Before being stricken with E. coli O157: H7, Rodgerson was an equity actor who’d performed at Disney and Lincoln Center and in movies.  She sued Costco in U.S. District Court for Utah last August.

In response, Costco attorneys denied any liability “under any of the Plaintiff’s claims” and “affirmatively asserts that it complied with all applicable statutory and regulatory provisions and standards…”
The Issaquah, WA-based corporate also charged that Rodgerson “has failed to mitigate her damages.”

Rodgerson’s attorneys, however, pointed to her hemolytic uremic syndrome, kidney failure, loss of her large colon, diabetes, infertility, and ability to tolerate childbirth, permanent impairment of her immune system and stamina along with other injuries.

By early 2018, the parties entered mediation to settle the case without going to a formal trial in federal court.