Judge awards $4 million in damages in wrongful death lawsuit filed against Sarasota-based creamery

A Tampa judge on Tuesday awarded $4 million in damages in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Sarasota-based Big Olaf Creamery on behalf of an Illinois woman who died in January 2022. The estate of Mary Billman filed the federal lawsuit in July. It claimed that Billman died from a listeria infection less than two weeks after she ate at a Big Olaf location during a visit to Florida.