Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

In the last few months, I have received horrifying reports of funeral and burial abuse. Recently, a news story was published noting that a funeral home failed to embalm a body, causing a horrific smell during an open casket funeral. A lawsuit was filed against the funeral director and funeral home alleging that the body had begun to decompose due to the fact that it had not been embalmed as agreed. The Complaint alleged that the family, friends, and other mourners were horrified by the smell and stench that penetrated the room. The lawsuit further alleged that the deceased’s finger nails and other parts of the body were discolored and humiliated the family. The funeral home and its Chief Executive Officer were sued for breach of contract, negligent intention and infliction of emotional distress, and misrepresentation.

The Philadelphia funeral home and burial abuse lawyers of Reiff & Bily understand that funerals are often the most heartfelt and devastatingly emotional moments that individuals and families will encounter in their lifetime.

Funerals rank as one of the most expensive and emotional purchases a consumer will make and it always comes with the expectation that a funeral will be conducted in a dignified, holy, and healing manner. Unfortunately, many funeral homes are more concerned with their “bottom line” and profitability rather than the personal and familiar interests of the deceased, leading to atrocities that are forever embedded as emotional scars in the minds of the family and mourners. No one entrusting the remains of a loved one to a funeral service provider should ever have to experience the lack of emotional closure via a funeral due to misadventure, neglect, or ineptitude of a funeral director or funeral home. It is the inherent nature and calling of the funeral industry that sacred trust must be given by a funeral provider to survivors and a higher standard of care exists with respect to identification of deceased persons while entrusted to a funeral director’s care.

The wrongful burial, funeral abuse, and wrongful cremation lawyers of Reiff & Bily recently concluded a wrongful cremation and funeral home abuse case for a substantial confidential figure. We understand the grief and emotional turmoil surrounding the loss of a family member and understand that when a funeral home or cemetery makes a mistake, it leaves even more emotional damage to the family.

Our skilled Pennsylvania lawyers always offer a free, no obligation consultation toll free at (800) 421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

The Philadelphia funeral home abuse lawyers at Reiff & Bily have reached a substantial confidential settlement against a Pennsylvania funeral home and funeral director after the funeral home wrongfully cremated the body of the decedent rather than providing a proper funeral and burial as the family requested and contracted for.

The agreement by and between the claimants and the funeral home required the funeral home to prepare the decedent’s body for viewing and burial. However, instead of holding and preparing the decedent’s body for viewing and burial as requested, the funeral home proceeded without authorization to wrongfully cremate the decedent’s body.

A Complaint was filed against the funeral home and funeral director alleging that the defendant’s unauthorized actions in cremating the decedent’s body constituted a breach of its express duties and responsibilities under its term and therefore a breach of contract. The surviving children and next of kin alleged that the willful disregard by the funeral home with the requirements of its contractual obligation constituted such outrageous reckless and wanton conduct that the surviving family members and next of kin suffered from extreme anguish and emotional distress, and hence grief and extraordinary mental anguish.

The wrongful cremation Complaint filed by Reiff & Bily also alleged that the next of kin and other surviving family members were prevented from providing and experiencing a significant event in the grieving process. Plaintiffs sought and received compensation for intentional infliction of emotional distress and additionally claimed punitive damages based upon the fact that the funeral home’s unauthorized cremation of decedent constituted such extreme reckless, outrage, and wanton conduct for which punitive damages were claimed.

In the case that we currently resolved, a renowned expert opined that despite all arrangements to provide a dignified and honorable funeral, the funeral home acted in direct contravention to the wishes of their survivors as expressed in writing reduced to contract, and acknowledged by a representative of the funeral home. The expert concluded that the Funeral Director’s behavior, actions, or non-actions rose to a level of callous indifference to the emotional well-being of survivors who trusted them to provide services in accord with what they wanted and what the funeral home had agreed to do.

Funerals and burials are often some of the most heartfelt and devastatingly emotional moments one will encounter in their lifetime. The purpose of a funeral is to celebrate, sanctify, and remember the life of the person who died. Each religion maintains its own ritual for dealing with the death and burial of an individual. Typically, a funeral may be one of the most expensive purchases a consumer will ever make and one expects that the experience will be conducted in a holy and healing manner. Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case as funeral homes often make appalling mistakes.

Today, many funeral homes, crematoriums, and cemeteries are acquired by large corporations and questionable practices and allegations of misconduct, deception, and corruption have led to atrocities. Unfortunately, as Pennsylvania funeral and burial abuse lawyers for over thirty years, we have investigated and litigated some of the most horrendous situations involving the dishonoring of the dead, family, and friends imaginable.

In a case we are currently litigating, although the deceased’s religion had strong beliefs against cremation, the funeral home erroneously cremated the body. In another recent Pennsylvania case, a Pennsylvania family sued the hospital and funeral home after it was discovered that the wrong body was prepared for a viewing.

The experienced Pennsylvania lawyers of Reiff and Bily understand the grief and emotional turmoil surrounding the loss of a family member and understand that when a funeral home and cemetery makes a mistake, it leaves even more emotional damage to the family.

We are the Pennsylvania lawyers to turn to if you or a loved one have been a victim of funeral home neglect. Our skilled funeral home neglect attorneys act as referral counsel for many law firms throughout the United States and understand the difficulties in addressing issues of grief after loss. We always offer a free, no obligation consultation toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

According to a recent story, a Maryland funeral home lost its license after an inspector found a pile of 40 bodies in body bags stacked 12 feet high in their garage waiting to be cremated. The bags were found to contain human remains strewn on the floor of the garage with visible leakage from the body bags, as well as a pungent odor. The owner of the funeral home is challenging a decision to have its license suspended. The funeral home is identified as Chambers Funeral Home and Cremations in Prince Georges County, Maryland. According to inspectors, the bodies were so ill kept that they became difficult to identify and the leakage from the body bags caused the writings containing identification to smear and become illegible. The website of the Chambers Funeral Home does not mention that it lost its license and the company continues to advertise dignified funeral services at a modest price.

As an experienced funeral home, cemetery, and cremation negligence lawyer, this morbid situation takes the cake. When one retains the services of a funeral home, it is expected that the deceased will be treated correctly and respectfully. The last thing the family needs is to be plunged into further sorrow due to such unethical behavior. The Pennsylvania funeral home abuse lawyers of Reiff & Bily have handled several cases on behalf of grief stricken families who were plunged even further into grief due to the unethical behavior of such funeral homes. Incidents such as this commonly occur throughout the United States with many occurring in Pennsylvania. When one pays hard earned dollars to a funeral home and a funeral home fails to do its job with dignity and respect, the families are entitled to recovery and the funeral abuse attorneys at Reiff & Bily will pursue these unethical businesses to make them pay for their negligence and wrongdoing. If you have been the victim of funeral home or cemetery abuse, please contact our office for a free consultation regarding your legal rights and options.

According to a recent newspaper article published in Canada a funeral director delivered to a grieving daughter remains other than those that were supposed to be those of her mother. Instead, the grieving daughter, Ellen Johnson, received someone else’s remains and has no idea what happened to her mother’s body after she died. The funeral director was charged with 34 counts of fraud and 2 counts of negligence with respect to the proper care of human remains and indignities to human remains. According to news sources, the funeral director’s lawyer indicated that he will plead guilty to 38 charges.

Ellen Johnson, the daughter of her deceased mother, Jessie, was quoted as saying “This is a nightmare. First you find out the ashes aren’t yours and then you wonder what he did do and how he did he do it and how did he keep all these bodies all this time. Were they kept in a proper facility?" It turned out that the funeral director has been operating a funeral home without a license from between 2003 and 2005. The investigation revealed that a number of the funeral director’s clients were given ashes other than the remains of their loved ones.

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