Ugandan sues US funeral home over son’s rotten body
Aug 10, 2010
A Ugandan living in Richmond, United States has sued a funeral home in Pasadena, claiming he suffered emotional trauma over the state in which his son’s body arrived for burial.
By Vision reporter
A Ugandan living in Richmond, United States has sued a funeral home in Pasadena, claiming he suffered emotional trauma over the state in which his son’s body arrived for burial.
According to the on-line Houston Chronicle, in the law suit against Fairmont Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Nicholas Jjemba, an oil company employee, said he had difficulty identifying his son’s remains about three weeks after he died. Noah Jjemba, 26, died in a car accident on July 1.
Heather Martin, a co-owner of the funeral home, said she was shocked by the allegation, adding that Jjemba had not informed the mortuary of the problems.
“Noah Jjemba’s corpse was badly decomposed that the plaintiff vomited as a result of not only the odour emanating from the coffin, but also from seeing his child’s remains in such a decayed state,†the lawsuit said.
The family cancelled a planned wake because of the body’s condition, the lawsuit added.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensation from the funeral home and is suing one of its employees for negligence and breach of contract.
“People’s remains are shipped from the Middle East war zone, but they don’t arrive in this state,†said Jjemba’s lawyer, Judy Mingledorff.
“I don’t know why the body of this young man arrived in that state.†She said the corpse’s condition was documented on video.
Jeremy Jjemba, a brother to the deceased, said a memorial service arranged by the funeral home was well-handled, but that the body “spoiled†en route to Uganda. Nicholas Jjemba declined to comment.
A Ugandan living in Richmond, United States has sued a funeral home in Pasadena, claiming he suffered emotional trauma over the state in which his son’s body arrived for burial.
According to the on-line Houston Chronicle, in the law suit against Fairmont Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Nicholas Jjemba, an oil company employee, said he had difficulty identifying his son’s remains about three weeks after he died. Noah Jjemba, 26, died in a car accident on July 1.
Heather Martin, a co-owner of the funeral home, said she was shocked by the allegation, adding that Jjemba had not informed the mortuary of the problems.
“Noah Jjemba’s corpse was badly decomposed that the plaintiff vomited as a result of not only the odour emanating from the coffin, but also from seeing his child’s remains in such a decayed state,†the lawsuit said.
The family cancelled a planned wake because of the body’s condition, the lawsuit added.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensation from the funeral home and is suing one of its employees for negligence and breach of contract.
“People’s remains are shipped from the Middle East war zone, but they don’t arrive in this state,†said Jjemba’s lawyer, Judy Mingledorff.
“I don’t know why the body of this young man arrived in that state.†She said the corpse’s condition was documented on video.
Jeremy Jjemba, a brother to the deceased, said a memorial service arranged by the funeral home was well-handled, but that the body “spoiled†en route to Uganda. Nicholas Jjemba declined to comment.