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The incident took place on Saturday, Jan. 22, at Robeks Smoothie Shop in Fairfield when James Iannazzo became upset and began throwing things when his son was hospitalized for a nut allergy after peanuts were added to his drink.
Iannazzo, age 48, of Fairfield, has agreed to pay the smoothie shop worker who sued him $7,500, said his spokesperson Brian Glicklich.
The investment broker was arrested after police received numerous calls from employees at Robeks, located at 2061 Black Rock Turnpike, reporting a customer throwing things, yelling at employees, and refusing to leave, said Sgt. Michael Stahl of the Fairfield Police.
Stahl said an investigation found that at around 1 p.m., Iannazzo made a purchase at Robeks and left the store without incident.
At approximately 1:40 p.m., Iannazzo called 911 requesting an EMS response to his home for juvenile suffering from an allergic reaction, Stahl said.
A short time later, he returned to Robeks and confronted employees, yelling at them and demanding to know who had made the smoothie that contained peanuts, after he had requested that no "peanut butter" be put in the drink, Stahl said.
When employees could not provide Iannazzo with the answer he became irate, yelling at the employees using a number of expletives. He then threw a drink at an employee, which hit their right shoulder. Iannazzo also made comments toward an employee referencing their immigration status, Stahl added.
“The only civil litigation against Mr. Ianazzo was settled for a token payment of $7,500," Glicklich said. "Mr. Ianazzo will always regret his momentary loss of temper at the time of his son’s medical emergency, and this outcome clearly shows the weakness of the case attempted against him.”
Glicklich added that the drink had been ordered "nut-free," and Ianazzo lost his temper briefly due to his son's life-threatening nut-based allergic reaction.
The Stratford teen who sued had reportedly asked for $300,000 in the suit.
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