Man sues Harvard, alleged grim reaper for $5 million in possible class action for what might have happened to the bodies of his mother, others at medical school

Ed. note: Amount sought changed after the court docket was changed.

A man whose mother agreed to have her body donated to Harvard Medical School in 2017 today sued both Harvard and now former mortuary director Cedric Lodge for $5 million for the way Lodge allegedly ran the school mortuary as a body-parts bazaar until his arrest earlier this year.

Like several of the other people who have sued the school, Johnson is seeking to become lead plaintiff in a class action against the school and, in this case, against Lodge.

Unlike the other cases, however, Johnson's was filed in federal, rather than state, court. His attorney argues the case meets the "diversity" requirement for a federal cases because while he and Harvard are located in Massachusetts, Lodge is a resident of New Hampshire - where, federal investigators charge, he would bring various body parts home with him so that he and his wife could then sell them to a group of body-parts collectors.

Federal prosecutors say Johnson only began in 2018 to sell off faces, whole heads, hands and other parts from bodies donated to Harvard for medical research and training. However, Johnson's complaint said that, like many other bodies, that of his mother, Anne Weaver of North Andover, was kept at the school for two years, before it was transported to a Roslindale crematorium and the remains returned to him.

Unlike some of the other survivors, who say they got notified by Harvard Medical School that their loved ones' bodies might have been desecrated by Lodge and his buyers - whom he would allegedly sometimes welcome to the mortuary to see what was on the slab - Johnson does not indicate whether he received such a letter. Instead, the complaint states that "upon information and belief," her body was one of the estimated 350 to 400 bodies Harvard estimated might have had parts removed for sale.

Johnson is formally suing both Harvard and Lodge for negligence, reckless infliction of emotional distress and tortious interference with remains. He also charges Harvard with breach of contract, negligent supervision, for allegedly letting Lodge get away with what he did and respondeat superior, basically that Harvard should be held to account for what Lodge did under its employ. He also charges Lodge with unjust enrichment.