US court awards $77m for refrigeration injuries

USA: A US refrigeration engineer has been awarded nearly $77m after losing most of his fingers and parts of his hands during a supermarket refrigerant leak.

Brian Mierendorf, 37, was seriously injured in the 2020 incident while trying to protect customers from an R22 refrigerant leak at a Kroger supermarket in Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

The record-breaking amount of $76.7m was awarded by an Oakland County jury yesterday (June 17).

Mierendorf’s attorney argued that Kroger had failed to properly maintain the refrigeration system and did not hand over documentation of maintenance, repairs or inspection records. The company was also alleged to have failed to complete an incident report until two years after the accident.