Suit Alleges Mortuaries Mishandled Cremations

A class-action suit has been filed against an Orange County crematory and several Southland mortuaries alleging mishandling of cremations, including the commingling of remains.

The suit, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, alleges violations of state laws and industry standards by McCormick & Son Inc., McCormick Mortuary Inc., McCormick Ambulance Co., McCormick Crematory and others associated with cremation operations in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Owners of the companies could not be reached for comment late Monday.

The class action stems from a wrongful termination lawsuit filed earlier this year by Santa Ana attorney Gary Sodikoff on behalf of a client named Craig Stewart. The lawsuit alleges that Stewart, who performed cremations at a McCormick crematory in South Orange County, was fired after he refused to perform mass cremations or put bodies in used caskets.

Robert J. McCormick Jr., the company’s president, said at the time that the allegations were “groundless.” The acts alleged, he said, are “not legal; we don’t engage in those practices. “

After filing Stewart’s lawsuit, Sodikoff said, he contacted the Sacramento law firm of Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann and Girard to represent families of the deceased.

Sodikoff and the Sacramento law firm had worked together in another class-action lawsuit against Cremar, an Anaheim crematory that allegedly engaged in mass cremations and harvesting of dental gold from the ashes of the dead. That lawsuit resulted in a $16.5-million settlement in 1994 for 15,000 relatives of people cremated at Cremar between 1981 and 1991. About 38% of that settlement went toward attorney fees, leaving each claimant $600 to $700, according to court estimates at the time.

Sodikoff said he expects Stewart to be a key witness in the latest class-action lawsuit. The lawyer also said McCormick has denied the allegations made by his client.

The class-action suit was brought on behalf of Orange County residents Dorothy Brock, Joseph Cardello, Sonjia M. Guard and Gail F. Dabbs. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people may be eligible to join the action, said William A. Kershaw, a Sacramento attorney representing the families.

Dabbs, a Laguna Beach resident whose mother died in 1989, said she agreed to represent a class of survivors whose loved ones were cremated in that same year.

“I knew nothing about this until I received a call from attorneys,” Dabbs said. “They told me that the ashes I received may not be my mother or it may be a mixture. This was shocking news to hear. I was a little bit troubled.”

The suit alleges that remains may have been mishandled as far back as 1982.