Professional Negligence Law Reporter
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Failure to Obtain Consent Before Moving Remains
July/August 2019Dorfman v. Northstar Funeral Servs. of Tex., LLC, No. DC-18-07308 (Tex. Dist. Ct. Dallas Cnty. Feb. 8, 2019).
Louis Dorfman’s parents were buried in a private mausoleum crypt at the Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery. He learned that two years earlier, the cemetery had relocated his parents’ remains to a mausoleum in a different cemetery after he had refused his niece and nephew’s request to do so. After the relocation, Dorfman’s parents were no longer situated side by side.
Dorfman filed suit against Restland’s operator, alleging fraud by nondisclosure and negligence. The plaintiff claimed that Restland Funeral Home had failed to contact him and follow its own process for notifying next of kin and obtaining proper consent before moving the remains. As a result of the defendant’s actions, Dorfman charged, he suffered anxiety, loss of appetite, and sleeping difficulties.
The jury awarded $200,000.
Plaintiff counsel: G. Michael Gruber and Ron Miller, both of Dallas.
