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"I read that Vie de France Yamazaki Inc., a Vernon bakery and cafe, is the target of three recent lawsuits alleging managerial indifference to health and safety protocols in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Plaintiffs blame the company for employee deaths and long-term COVID-19 illnesses they say directly stemmed from mismanagement on company property. The original suit, filed March 25 by Ana Eveline Perez, alleges she was at higher risk because she was obese and had allergies and atherosclerosis, that she contracted COVID-19 while working, and that now her entire family suffers from long COVID symptoms. Separate wrongful-death suits by Alex and Gracie Hernandez claim Alex caught COVID-19 at the bakery and then infected his stepdaughter, 42-year-old Valerie Esquivel, who died in April 2020, and a March 30 suit from Maria Martha Alvarado, widow of mechanic Pascual Alvarado Hernandez, alleges employees were visibly sick and coughing but were not screened or sent home." - Mona Holmes