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A Massachusetts funeral home is being sued by the family of a man whose casket broke open as it was being lowered into the ground and his body fell out during his burial nearly three years ago.
Family members of Andrew Serrano accuse the Perez Funeral Home of numerous counts of negligence and negligent and reckless infliction of emotional distress, according to court papers obtained by the Eagle-Tribune.
The lawsuit states that "one of the side straps on the city-owned casket lowering device broke, causing Mr. Serrano's casket to fall into the grave and break apart," according to the Eagle-Tribune.
“When the casket broke apart, Mr. Serrano’s corpse fell out of the casket into the grave and began oozing fluid” in full view of the “horrified family members who became visibly distraught and hysterical,” the lawsuit stated.
Several relatives jumped "into the grave" to care for the body, which was later removed and returned to the funeral home, days before Serrano was finally laid to rest, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
The city of Lawrence, E&J Memorial Services, Inc. -- operating under the name of Perez Funeral Home -- Bellevue Cemetery Board of Trustees and Bellevue Cemetery Board of Directors were all specifically named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuits lists nine counts, specifying negligence and negligent and reckless infliction of emotional distress, while claiming the city, funeral home and cemetery "owed a duty...to handle Mr. Serrano's human remains in a correct and dignified manner," the Eagle-Tribune reports.
The family is seeking a minimum of $50,001 in damages in the lawsuit, according to court papers obtained by the Eagle-Tribune.