New Jersey Court Permits Suit Over Omitted Funeral Ritual

Yesterday in Menorah Chapels at Millburn v. Needles, (NJ App., June 8, 2006), a New Jersey appellate court held that the First Amendment does not bar it from granting relief in a suit by an Orthodox Jewish family against a funeral home for breach of contract. The contract with the funeral home obligated it to furnish individuals ("shomerim") to be with the body continually until burial, in accordance with Jewish tradition. However, shomerim were present only part of the time. The court held that "Although the services at issue may be required under the tenets of the orthodox Jewish faith, the dispute does not concern the manner in which they were performed, but solely whether they were performed at all – a non-doctrinal matter." The court went on to hold that the deceased's family could be entitled to recover consequential damages for the emotional distress they suffered. The Morris County New Jersey Daily Record carries a news account of the court's decision.