SOUTHFIELD, Mich., — Nationally known trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger announced that today, a Wayne County jury returned a verdict of over $8 Million Dollars against the Northville Moose Lodge and Leonard’s Syrups for the wrongful death of Mary Katherine Simpson, age 48, October 12, 2014.
The jury, sitting in Judge Patricia Perez Fresard’s courtroom, heard 2 weeks of testimony and deliberated for 2 hours before returning its verdict.
Mary Simpson died in the basement of the Moose Lodge as a result of carbon dioxide poisoning. The poisoning was the result of a malfunction in the soda pop syrup system which discharged an entire tank of carbon dioxide into the Moose Lodge basement.
The pump which malfunctioned was supposed to be vented to the outside by a simple hose. Instead, it was negligently installed, without venting, so, in the case of a malfunction, the C02 gas stayed in the basement.
Mary Simpson was a Moose Lodge volunteer who had gone into the basement to change soda pop syrup cartons that were connected to the malfunctioning C02 pump. She was overcome by the odorless and colorless gas, and died 5 days later of severe brain damage from lack of oxygen.
Fieger stated:
“For 5 years, The Northville Moose Lodge and Leonard’s Syrups have tried to evade responsibility, even though the police and MOISHA investigated and found that an improperly vented pipe was responsible for this preventable tragedy. The jury had no trouble finding the truth.”