Man injured in collapse at Lonz Winery files suit

3/6/2001

PORT CLINTON - A Kettering, Ohio, man and his mother have filed the 17th lawsuit against the owners of the Lonz Winery in the July collapse of a terrace there.

A complaint filed last week in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court by Joseph Phillips and Suzan Hall seeks at least $25,000 in damages from Paramount Distillers, Inc., and its subsidiary, Mantey-Mon Ami-Lonz Wineries, Inc. According to the suit, Mr. Phillips suffered "multiple broken bones" and other injuries when the terrace collapsed July 1 at the winery on Middle Bass Island. The suit says Ms. Hall had to take time off from work to care for her son and suffered lost wages and emotional distress.

One person was killed and 74 hurt in the terrace fall. The lawsuits filed in Ottawa County are scheduled for a March, 2002, trial by visiting Judge Richard McQuade.