ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Crematorium Case Results in Reforms

Relatives of thousands of people whose remains were entrusted to an Anaheim crematorium have agreed to a settlement of their civil lawsuit regarding the manner in which the remains were treated. It appears to be a sensible end to an emotional proceeding, and should help grieving family members proceed with the healing process.

Attorneys for Cremar Crematorium and several Orange County mortuaries and funeral societies that were also defendants in the legal action said their clients did not admit any guilt or wrongdoing in this month’s settlement. But they said it would have taken too long, probably several more years, for a trial and likely appeals before final disposition of the lawsuit, which was filed in 1991.

About 15,000 relatives of people who were cremated at the Anaheim facility between 1981 and 1991, and their lawyers, will share in a settlement of more than $16 million. The plaintiffs charged that the remains of their loved ones were mishandled, commingled and suffered the removal of dental gold.

Besides the cash payment, which after lawyers’ fees is likely to average around $600 to $700 per family, the relatives also can take satisfaction from the knowledge that their claims and lawsuit helped cause changes in state law regarding funeral practices. A new state law requires annual unannounced inspections of crematory facilities and makes the misappropriation of dental gold, silver or jewelry a felony. Additionally, corpses must be refrigerated before cremation and more training must be provided for workers at crematoriums. Considering the charges in the lawsuit and in similar court claims elsewhere in California in recent years, the reforms were necessary.

For instance, California’s funeral home industry was rocked several years ago when a San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigator found partially cremated bodies and trash cans full of human ashes at a ceramics plant in the high desert community of Hesperia. The son of the former owners of a Pasadena funeral home pleaded guilty to mishandling remains and served more than two years in prison. That case, too, led to reforms in the industry.

The settlement of the Anaheim case in Superior Court in Santa Ana was filled with poignant testimony from relatives about the trauma they claimed to have suffered from the alleged mishandling of the remains of family members. The death of a loved one is a difficult enough time without the added burden of uncertainty about disposition of the remains.