Proposed Settlement Agreement Reached for Harvard Morgue Case

[Boston, MA] — Morgan & Morgan attorneys announced today that the plaintiffs have reached a proposed $52.5 million settlement agreement with Harvard University Harvard Medical School (HMS) to resolve the class action lawsuit stemming from the mishandling of donated bodies to the HMS’s Anatomical Gift Program.

The proposed class action settlement will provide $52.5 million in relief to those families who were directly impacted by the criminal mishandling of their loved ones’ donated bodies, while $500,000 will be set aside for families whose loved ones’ bodies were not at the morgue at the time of the criminal activity, but who may have suffered emotional distress as a result of the news. Importantly, Harvard has also agreed to provide additional non-monetary consideration in the form of a statement that will be made by Harvard Medical School to the Donor families, confirming that the criminal acts by Mr. Lodge were morally reprehensible, and a further statement that will summarize the changes that have been made to improve the Anatomical Gift Program (“AGP”). Harvard has also agreed to establish an annual scholarship in honor of those who donate their body to the AGP to further medical education and research.

“Both Harvard and the plaintiffs’ attorneys worked diligently to come to an agreement so that these families can finally have closure and begin to heal. We hope that this resolution ensures that this never happens to another family ever again,” said Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan.

Represented by Morgan & Morgan attorney Shannon Pennock and a team of attorneys from Morgan & Morgan's Boston office, a group of families joined together and filed one of 12 lawsuits in 2023 against Harvard College, Harvard Medical School, and two Harvard employees who ran the HMS Anatomical Gift Program after discovering that a former HMS morgue manager had been arrested for allegedly stealing and selling body parts from the morgue.

“Morgan & Morgan made history in Massachusetts by taking this case all the way to Massachusetts highest state court, the Superior Judicial Court. As a result, anatomical gift programs will no longer be assured blanket immunity to these kinds of lawsuits. We are confident that anatomical gift programs across the state will be stronger because of them,” said Morgan & Morgan attorney Shannon Pennock.

The Class Action Settlement Agreement must receive final approval from the Court to take effect. However, the Court’s preliminary approval of the settlement class allows Plaintiffs’ attorneys to send important notice to the families of Donors who qualify for the class action. This notice will provide detailed information concerning the settlement, how to file a claim and the date of the final approval hearing.