A Cook County funeral home was hit with a lawsuit claiming intentional infliction of emotional distress after a series of unfortunate events led to a "spoiled" service (Sun-Times). The article does not speculate as to the funeral home's intentions but the plaintiff suggested it had to do with greed.
Since the incident happened two years ago, I wouldn't expect discovery to include the remains of the deceased. The negligence lawsuit claims funeral home workers tried to squeeze the deceased -- Thomas B. Owens' brother-in-law Ronald Jones -- into too small of a casket.
Let that image sink in a bit.
The macabre drama started when the Gatlin Funeral Home director told Owens the day before the service that Jones' body was too big for his seven-foot casket and therefore the lid would not close. His body had been laying in the coffin for two days at that point, presumably with the top up.
Adding insult to injury, Owens was accused of fraud by the owner of the cemetary (Mount Greenwood Memorial Garden) because Gatlin falsely told Greenwood that the casket was eight feet long, although the burial site was only big enough for a seven-foot box.
It gets even worse.
On the morning of the funeral, according to the complaint, Owens and his two young sons (both minors) arrived at the funeral home to help reposition Jones' body in order to close the lid. Meanwhile, four Chicago Police officers showed up and gave Owens a hard time for allowing two young boys to help move a corpse.
The service began an hour later than scheduled, after Owens finally was able to squeeze the body into the casket and shut the lid.
Owens is requesting that Gatlin pay for counseling, an additional undisclosed sum of money and a verbal apology for what he describes as considerable emotional distress. I'll bet most Chicago injury lawyers would, uh, kill for a chance to argue this case.
Curiously, no mention was made of the emotional state of the two boys who helped fidget with the body.
- Funeral Ethics Association (home page)
- Quiz: Emotional Distress (PDF, FindLaw)
- Burr Oak Cemetary Lawsuits Begin (FindLaw)
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (definition, from the Legal Information Institute)
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