Court Refuses To Dismiss Loss of Sepulcher Claims

In Gutnick v Hebrew Free Burial Society for the Poor of the City of Brooklyn, (Kings Cty.. NY Sup Ct., June 28, 2019), a New York trial court refused to dismiss common law loss of sepulcher claims by the daughter of an Orthodox Jewish man who died. According to the court:

On April 13, 2014, at an open grave site, plaintiff and other mourners gathered around a coffin believed to be the decedent. During the funeral service, plaintiff noticed a handwritten sticker on the coffin with a name that was not the decedent. Plaintiff alerted the Rabbi performing the ritual and was advised that Orthodox Jewish law forbids the opening of a casket once it has been closed. However, cemetery representatives later opened the casket, in plaintiff's presence and discovered the body of an unknown woman. It is further alleged that the location of the decedent was unknown for several hours. Later, Capitol, HFBA, Mount Richmond Cemetery, and Pyramid representatives informed plaintiff that her father may have been buried in another grave. Upon identifying the grave, the representatives disinterred the coffin and opened it to discover the decedent's body, which plaintiff identified.