A cremation lawsuit was just filed last month in Alabama.
For two years, an Alabama man thought he had his wife’s cremated ashes. The former Huntsville resident is suing Laughlin Service Funeral Home alleging he was given the remains of a stranger after his deceased wife was cremated in 2006. The funeral home lawsuit was filed electronically in Madison County Circuit Court on Saturday on behalf of Richard Henry Parrott. Parrott seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
“As a result of the defendants (Laughlin Service Funeral Home) negligent and/or wanton actions in handling and delivering the remains of Julia Parrott, the plaintiff (Richard Parrott) has suffered emotional distress and mental anguish and the actions have had a direct effect on the physical health of the plaintiff,” the suit says.
John Purdy, owner of the funeral home, said Thursday he did not know about the lawsuit. Parrott and his lawyer have not notified him about the alleged problem, he said.
For two years the urn remained on a shelf in Parrott’s home, the suit says. Parrott did not discover the cremation mix-up until he was packing to move to Orlando, Fla.
“On or about Oct. 29, 2008, while in the process of moving, the plaintiff (Parrott) discovered, for the first time, a label on the bottom of the urn that stated the urn contained the cremated remains of a stranger,” the lawsuit said.
Parrott hired Laughlin to take care of his wife’s remains on the Sunday she died, the lawsuit says.
The cremation was carried out beginning at 4 p.m. on Dec. 8 through about 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 9, the lawsuit says. At the funeral home Dec. 9, Parrott signed a release form and picked up an urn that he thought contained his wife’s remains. He returned home and placed the urn on a shelf where it remained for two years.
The funeral home breached its duties to Parrott by either mislabeling the urn or delivering the wrong urn, the lawsuit says.
If your loved one has been the victim of funeral home negligence, a cremation mistake or a cemetery mistake please make sure to contact an experienced funeral, cremation and cemetery attorney.