WEST BABYLON, NY — A West Babylon memorial chapel “shocked the conscience” of two sisters who filed a lawsuit this week, saying a South Carolina funeral home — hired to move their father’s remains to Long Island — shipped another man’s remains, and that the wrong man was buried.
Star of David Memorial Chapels, located at 1236 Wellwood Ave., hired Fletcher Funeral and Cremation Services in Fountain Inn in South Carolina to transport the remains of Clifford Zaner, who died Feb. 25, according to the complaint filed Tuesday. However, Zaner’s body remained in South Carolina for nearly two weeks after sisters Stacy Holzman and Megan Zaner, originally from Holbrook, buried an unidentified man in a family plot at Mount Ararat Cemetery in Lindenhurst, according to the lawsuit.
The sisters said they didn’t recognize the person in the casket at the time of the March 2 burial, but that employees at Star of David insisted the stranger was their dad, the complaint said.
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Instead, an unidentified man was buried in a family plot at Mount Ararat Cemetery in Lindenhurst, according to the lawsuit.
On March 13, Fletcher contacted Star of David, informing them that Zaner’s body was indeed not sent to Long Island. He was later sent to Jacksonville, Florida, on March 24, where his family “had to endure a second burial” for him, the complaint said.
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Their lawsuit seeks more than $50 million and names Star of David and Fletcher as defendants. It accuses both of gross negligence and Star of David of breach of contract, in addition to causing “severe personal” and emotional injuries.
The sisters said one reason they filed the lawsuit is because Star of David promised to refund the approximately $12,000 Clifford Zaner’s family paid for the funeral, but has failed to do so.
Phillip Rizzuto, attorney for the sisters, told Patch that what Star of David did “absolutely shocked the conscience,” and that the memorial chapel initially denied accepting ownership after the wrong man was buried into the family plot.
He also said that when they filed a lawsuit, instead of accepting the responsibility for what they did, they blamed the sisters and Fletcher
“It was perfectly within their control to confirm the identification of the body they received, because the body should have come with a toe tag,” said Rizzuto. “And if it didn’t, then they should have taken steps to confirm who it was.”
A representative of Star of David provided Patch with the following comment:
“We deeply regret any sorrow experienced by the family for the mistake made by the funeral home in South Carolina. After the family confirmed the identification of the deceased at the cemetery, the burial proceeded. When the funeral home in South Carolina notified us of their mistake, we took swift and decisive action to contact the family and offer whatever services needed to lessen their grief.
Families are under a great deal of stress when they identify their deceased. We are reviewing all our protocols and will make any recommended changes to ensure the correct identification of family members. We are committed to continuing to provide the highest level of compassion and care to families who have entrusted us with their loved ones.”
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Patch also reached out to Fletcher Funeral and Cremation Services for comment.
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