By Jeremy Walsh
The Long Island family whose wedding reception was ruined by a carbon monoxide leak at an East Elmhurst catering hall last spring is gearing up for a lawsuit, their attorney said.
Henry Stanziale, who represents George and Sharon Quenneville, filed an order to show cause with the Queens Supreme Court, asking the insurer of Dante Catering to divulge the name of the company that installed the chimney for the building’s boiler. The Fire Department found that improperly installed equipment in the basement caused the carbon monoxide leak.
“Dante’s insurance company is taking the position, ‘It’s not our fault, it could be the maintenance people, it could be the chimney people,’ ” Stanziale said. “I want everybody at the table all at once.”
The incident occurred April 6, 2008, when Quenneville, 28, and his bride, 22, of Albertson, L.I., were celebrating their marriage at Dante Catering at 75−07 31st Ave. Shortly before 9:13 p.m., George Quenneville’s mother said she felt strange and collapsed, the New York Post reported.
FDNY officials said 40 people suffered minor injuries and two others were taken to Elmhurst Hospital.
“People fainted, had to go into the decompression chamber,” Stanziale said. “Imagine the fright and the emotional distress.”
Stanziale noted that Dante did not charge the Quennevilles for the use of the hall, and the New York Post reported Dante’s covered the medical costs associated with the incident. But he also said the catering hall did not reimburse the couple for the other costs of the reception.
“He spent this money for the dresses, the band, the flowers and Dante’s has not reimbursed them at all for those monies,” he said.
Michael Re, an attorney for Dante’s Catering, did not return phone calls by press time Tuesday.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e−mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 154.
