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Cemetery mis-buried husband and wife in wrong graves: family

Amount:

$400,000

Type:

Verdict-Plaintiff

State:

Florida

Venue:

Miami-Dade County

Court:

Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, 11th

Injury Type(s):

mental/psychological-emotional distress

Case Type:

Contracts – Breach of Contract; Professional Negligence – Mishandling of Corpses

Case Name:

Leslie Carpenter, Glenn Griffith, Warren J. Griffith, Cynthia Quintana, Valerie Wideman, Barbara Wolfe, Dianne Griffith, Victoria Richman v. Woodlawn Park Cemetery Company d/b/a Palms Woodlawn Funeral Home & Cemetery,
No. 2009-84919-CA-1

Date:

April 25, 2014

Parties

Plaintiff(s):

Barbara Wolfe (Female), 

Glenn Griffith (Male), 

Dianne Griffith (Female), 

Valerie Wideman (Female), 

Cynthia Quintana (Female), 

Leslie Carpenter (Female), 

Victoria Richman (Female), 

Warren J. Griffith (Male)

Plaintiff Attorney(s):

Neal W. Hirschfeld;
Greenspoon Marder, P.A.;
Fort Lauderdale,
FL,
for
Barbara Wolfe, Glenn Griffith, Dianne Griffith, Valerie Wideman, Cynthia Quintana, Leslie Carpenter, Victoria Richman, Warren J. Griffith

Plaintiff Expert(s):

Joel Klass;
M.D.;
Psychiatry;
Hollywood,
FL called by
Neal W. Hirschfeld ■ Keith Kronish;
;
Funeral Homes;
Baca Raton,
FL called by
Neal W. Hirschfeld

Defendant(s):

Woodlawn Park Cemetery Co.

Defense Attorney(s):

Alison B. Marshall;
Luks Santaniello Petrillo & Jones;
Fort Lauderdale,
FL,
for
Woodlawn Park Cemetery Co. ■ Jack D. Luks;
Luks Santaniello Petrillo & Jones;
Fort Lauderdale,
FL,
for
Woodlawn Park Cemetery Co.

Facts:

Plaintiff Leslie Carpenter’s father, Warren Griffith, died in 2001 in Homestead and was buried at the Palms Woodlawn Funeral Home & Cemetery in Naranja. Griffith’s wife died in 2008 and was buried at the same cemetery. Carpenter claimed she later discovered that the grave she had visited for seven years did not contain her father’s body. Carpenter sued Woodlawn Park Cemetery Company d/b/a Palms Woodlawn Funeral Home & Cemetery for negligence. Carpenter’s siblings joined in the lawsuit as plaintiffs. The plaintiffs claimed that Palms Woodlawn improperly buried Griffith in 2001. They further claimed that in 2004 Palms Woodlawn buried an unrelated male on top of his existing grave. They also alleged that in 2008 Palms Woodlawn buried Griffith’s wife on top of an unrelated female. They claimed they unknowingly visited a false gravesite for at least seven years. All of the plaintiffs with the exception of Carpenter reached settlements with the defendant prior to trial and were dismissed from the case. Carpenter’s counsel claimed that her parents were supposed to be buried in a plot that had their graves together so the two could be close to each other in death. He claimed that after Griffith had died, his body was placed in a different grave than had been planned, while a stranger’s body was placed in his grave. He further claimed the cemetery had knowledge of the mis-burial but did not tell Carpenter or family members until 2008. All four of the deceased persons were disinterred, identified and reinterred. Carpenter’s counsel claimed the cemetery failed to keep proper records identifying who was buried where. The plaintiffs’ funeral expert testified that the defendant’s records were not well maintained such that the cemetery should not have buried two non-related people together. He also opined that the cemetery damaged Griffith’s vault when the non-related male was buried in the space on top in 2004 by crushing the top of the vault to make more room for the non-related man’s vault. Defense counsel claimed that burying the non-related male above Griffith’s grave was a mistake. They contended that Griffith was always interred in the space for which his wife had purchased and contracted in 2001. They contended that it appeared that the wrong name was placed on the plot at some time thereafter, most likely when the non-related male was erroneously buried in the burial space above Griffith. They argued that nobody at the cemetery had any knowledge of any mis-burials until Carpenter called after her mother’s funeral and indicated she thought there was a problem. They also argued that as soon as the cemetery confirmed who was buried and where, they immediately wanted to fix the problem and ultimately did after a few years when Carpenter and her siblings consented to the disinterment and reinterment.

Injury:

Carpenter claimed she suffered severe emotional distress after discovering the body in her father’s grave belonged to a stranger. She further claimed she suffered more emotional distress when her father’s casket was smashed open and his body transferred from the old casket to a new one. She claimed she has nightmares and frequent crying episodes. Carpenter’s expert psychiatrist testified that she suffered severe emotional distress as a result of the incident. Carpenter sought to recover damages for past and future emotional distress. Her counsel suggested the jury award between $300,000 and $600,000. Defense counsel argued that Carpenter’s severe emotional distress claim was exaggerated. They argued that there were events from Carpenter’s childhood and early adulthood that she never dealt with until the incident with the cemetery, when she sought counseling. They noted that the plaintiffs’ expert also testified that the cemetery incident caused Carpenter to react differently than perhaps someone who had not had her other experiences might have responded.

Result:

The jury found Woodland Park Cemetery engaged in extreme and outrageous conduct. It also found that Woodlawn Park interfered with the plaintiffs’ right to the proper burial or other disposition of the body of either Griffith or his wife such as to reasonably imply malice, or with entire want of care of attention to duty, or great indifference to the person, property or rights of others. The jury further found that Carpenter suffered from severe emotional distress as a result of the defendant’s conduct. The jury determined that Carpenter’s damages totaled $400,000. Carpenter also sought punitive damages, but the jury declined to award her any.

Leslie Carpenter: $400,000 Personal Injury: compensatory damages

Trial Information:

Judge:

Ronald Dresnick

Trial Length:

5
 days

Trial Deliberations:

3
 hours

Editor’s Comment:

This report is based on information that was provided by plaintiffs’ and defense counsel.