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2nd class action lawsuit filed against Harvard for morgue scandal on behalf of ‘traumatized and heartbroken families’

"The Harvard morgue was a haven for predators — a place where one could abuse the unprotected remains of loved ones in the worst possible way without any fear of detection or prevention," the suit reads.

A second lawsuit has been filed against Harvard University in response to the medical school morgue scandal. Hattanas Kumchai/Getty Images

By Susannah Sudborough

June 29, 2023

4 minutes to read

A second class action lawsuit has been filed against Harvard University in response to revelations that the university’s medical school morgue manager allegedly stole and sold human body parts from cadavers that had been donated to be used for education and research.

Earlier this month, federal prosecutors charged 55-year-old morgue manager Cedric Lodge with conspiracy and interstate trafficking of stolen goods, along with several of the buyers in his network, for transactions going back as far as 2018.

News of the alleged mistreatment of the cadavers devastated the families of those whose bodies were sold on the black market.

Days later, a Tewksbury man whose mother’s body may have been among the desecrated filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the up to 400 families whose members’ body parts may have been sold. According to WBZ-TV, up to 150 people had already joined the lawsuit by June 23.

On Wednesday, law firm Morgan & Morgan filed another class action lawsuit against Harvard on behalf of three “traumatized and heartbroken” families whose loved ones’ bodies were allegedly mishandled.

“Defendants solicited and accepted these incredibly dear, precious, selfless gifts and undertook the solemn, important responsibility of making sure the gifted remains were treated, at all times, lawfully and with the utmost dignity and respect,” the lawsuit reads.

“However, to their absolute shock and horror, the families who placed this deep trust in Defendants have learned that…Defendants abandoned them in a facility that was a place of freakish desecration, where…criminals were allowed to roam and pick over loved ones’ remains for bits like trinkets at a flea market.”

The new lawsuit’s claims

The people named in the lawsuit whose bodies were donated are Glenn Wilder Sr., Marshall Jolotta, and Joseph Gagne — all of whom were Massachusetts residents. The plaintiffs are all children of the deceased, the suit says, and most are from Massachusetts.

“When these individuals and their families made the generous and selfless decision to donate their bodies, they trusted their remains would be treated with utmost care, dignity, and respect and that their donations would be used to educate the future generation of doctors and ease the suffering of others,” Morgan & Morgan wrote in a statement.

“Now, these families are left to relive the trauma of losing their loved ones and wonder what happened to their remains. We will fight to hold everyone responsible for this disgrace accountable – and to make sure no other families ever have to go through something like this again.”

The lawsuit alleges that Harvard failed “to provide a safe place for the sheltering of the remains” and had “lax policies and procedures and substandard screening, selecting, training and supervision of its staff.” It also claims that Harvard has yet to take responsibility for what happened.

“The Harvard morgue was a haven for predators — a place where one could abuse the unprotected remains of loved ones in the worst possible way without any fear of detection or prevention,” the suit reads.

The impact of Harvard’s alleged negligence

The suit details the lives of the loved ones’ whose bodies were desecrated. It tells of their service to their communities and how they wanted to keep helping people after their deaths by aiding in the advancement of medical science.

“As he was dying of lung cancer, Glenn, Sr. told the family that, through his gift, he hoped he could save someone else from the kind of suffering he was enduring,” the suit reads. “…[Jolotta] chose Harvard in part based on Harvard’s outstanding reputation, often joking with some pride that he was going to be the first in his family to go to Harvard.”

The suit charges Harvard with a breach of fiduciary duty, torturous interference with remains, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and unjust enrichment.

It asks for compensatory damages and injunctive relief, including disclosure of the details of how their loved ones’ remains were treated while in Harvard’s care insofar as this is possible.

“These remains were not mere ‘cadavers’ to which no respect was owed. They were the last physical remnants of beloved fathers, mothers, children, grandparents, sisters, wives,” the suit reads.

How Harvard has responded so far

More on the Harvard morgue scandal

Harvard fired Lodge on May 6. He worked for the university for over 25 years.

The university claims to have had no knowledge of Lodge’s misconduct before the FBI contacted it about its investigation into him in March 2023.

For the families of the people whose bodies were desecrated, Harvard has created a webpage with resources and set up a support and information center. It also sent letters to the donors’ next of kin to inform them of the alleged crimes.

To keep mistreatment of cadavers from happening again, the university has appointed an external panel of experts to evaluate its Anatomical Gift Program and morgue policies and practices.

Harvard didn’t respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit late Wednesday night, but on its Anatomical Gift Program website, it wrote that “Harvard Medical School is deeply sorry for the pain and uncertainty caused by this troubling news.”

What comes next

Kathryn Barnett, an expert in lawsuits involving the mistreatment of human remains, will be leading the litigation, Morgan & Morgan said in an email. She previously acted as lead counsel for lawsuits arising from the 2002 Tri-State Crematory scandal in Georgia, among others.

The law firm also said it filed a demand for discovery “to determine the full scope of Harvard’s knowledge of when and how this could have happened.” This includes a request for all of Harvard’s policies and procedures and Lodge’s entire personnel file.

You can read the full lawsuit below:

Harvard Morgue Scandal Morgan & Morgan Class Action Lawsuit by Susannah Sudborough on Scribd

2nd class action lawsuit filed against Harvard for morgue scandal on behalf of ‘traumatized and heartbroken families’