Couple, Kirby and Marie Fontaine, may have won the $50 million lottery in 2009, but they are still seeking to hold into account a company whose product defect and negligence contributed to a fire breakout in their home, which in turn incurred thousands of dollars in damages.
The Winnipeg Free Press gives more details about the case. The couple filed the case in the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, asking for at least $200,000 in damages after the ultraviolet sanitation system set sparks in their residence. Respondents in the case include the following: Trident Group USA and Paramount Leisure Industries, which manufactured the product; the Oasis Leisrue Center responsible for installing the pool and filtration system; and the Central Spa and Pool Supply and ABC Distributor, which were the sellers of the system.
Fontaine's statement laid a huge part of the accountability on Trident which still insisted on producing and distributing the water sanitation system though it had prior knowledge of the defect. The Canadian government had recalled the product on June 2014, after the U.S.-based Conusmer Product Safety Commission warned that the faulty electrical wiring in the system can break down and sponteneously create sparks of flames.
The public sympathy lies with the Fontaines who are widely perceived as philanthropists who make their donations quietly under the radar. In a story filed by CBC News, charitable organizations receive donations that average $100,000 each from the couple who give it without any pubicity or fanfare. The Christmas Cheer Board, the Rossbrook House, and the Winnipeg Harvest received that amount on December 2015. A statement from Rossbrook House commended the Fontaines for their generosity and humility, acknnowledging that their financial freedom could have allowed them to use the money elsewhere.
The Fontaines are among the handful of lottery winners who preserved their winnings years after they got their prize. A study by NBC news discusses cases of the less fortunate ones who lost their newfound fortune and ending up in near bankruptcy. One tragedy was the life of Ibi Roncalloll of Ontario who won $5 million in 1991. Her husband, Joseph, learned that she was giving a substantial share of her winnings to a son he knew nothing about, and poisoned her in anger. He was eventually convicted of manslaughter.
