Case Study: Funeral Law and Ethics - Mortuary Contract Breach

This case study examines the legal and ethical ramifications of a breach of contract by Carey Riyal Ram’n Mortuary. The case involves the parents of a deceased infant whose body was found in a garbage bin after the mortuary was entrusted with its cremation. The assignment details the court proceedings, the arguments presented by both sides, and the final judgment, which awarded substantial damages to the parents for emotional distress and penalized the mortuary for negligence and breach of contract. The analysis highlights the mortuary's failure to adhere to the cremation contract, the questionable explanation for the body's disappearance, and the court's decision to compensate the parents significantly. The case serves as an example of the legal consequences of mishandling remains and the importance of ethical conduct within the funeral industry.

Running head: FUNERAL LAW AND ETHICS
Funeral Law and Ethics
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Topic
The case discussed here is Raul Adrian Castro Manano v. Carey Riyal Ram’n Mortuary, Case
Number: 2015-2710-CA-01.
The Case
In the case that is discussed here, the body of a dead baby was discovered in the garbage bin
of Gas Station located in the North Miami. It was discovered that the baby was actually the
deceased child of the couple in the case who had died shortly after birth on the 1st of
September, 2014. It was stated that the couple had no idea how their child had ended up
there, they had, and at that time signed a cremation contract with the Carey Riyal Ram’n who
was given the full authority for the cremation of their late child’s dead body after its fateful
demise in the Miami Beach Hospital (Miamiherald, 2017, http://www.miamiherald.com).
But, since the body was not subjected to cremation, it can be said that the company
committed a breach in the contract that was signed with them. The case was then soon run in
the Court.
The couple claimed to have made several complaints to the Mortuary about this particular
incident since the month of July 2015. But, it seemed that the Mortuary was very ignorant
and tried to avoid making any contacts with them whatsoever. All their complaints were
ignored and not responded to; this further strengthened the particular case in the favor of the
parents of the dead child (2017, http://www.maselara.com).
The Arguments and Judgment
A damage trial proceeded in the court, ruled by the Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Cueto.
All the arguments were placed by the plaintiffs and the defendant and were analyzed. It was
stated by the Carey Riyal Ram’n’s son, Mr. Jarren Hood, to the Miami Police that body in
question was stolen from the van inside which it was carried. The lawyers and the police
department found the roots of the story quite vague and strange for except the body, nothing

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else seemed to have been stolen from the wan, which was very much unexpected of thieves.
Their argument was clearly seen to be untruthful and vague, but, even so was considered. It
was very unclear how the body ended up in the garbage bin of a gas station in the north
Miami while being taken for cremation and who might be responsible and how the act was
done in the first place, but the picture that was the clearest of all was the suffering endured by
the parents of the deceased child. The parents after finding their child’s corpse in the garbage
bin and not being responded to by the mortuary cremated their child in a burial site of a
catholic church. The Court compensated the mother a sum of $2million and the father
$1Million for emotional distress that was faced by them. The mortuary was penalized and
was charged a sum of $25 million for the damage inflicted by them and $500 for the breach
of the contract (Lexisnexis.Com, 2017). The verdict was passed on the 10th of March 2016
and it took the jury about 30 minutes to reach the conclusion.

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Reference
"$28 Million Awarded To Parents Of Dead Baby Found In A North Miami
Dumpster." Miamiherald, 2017, http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-
dade/north-miami/article65328632.html.
2017, http://www.maselara.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20160401140557.pdf.
"$28 Million Verdict Against Funeral Home That Failed To Properly Dispose Of Newborn's
Remains." Lexisnexis.Com, 2017,
https://www.lexisnexis.com/jvsubmission/b/document_of_week/archive/2016/03/24/28-
million-verdict-against-funeral-home-that-failed-to-properly-dispose-of-newborn-39-s-
remains.aspx.