Published: June 13, 2009 11:44 pm      

Man sues funeral home, casket company

A grieving Atlanta father who said he suffered a series of indignities while trying to bury his stepson is suing a Somerset County funeral home and a casket maker.

W. Robert Baynes is taking to court Allegheny Heartland Casket, owner Kimball Sweatt and Mason Funeral Home, all of Tire Hill, and former Mason employee David E. Lehman of Davidsville.

It began in November 2005 when Baynes contracted with Mason Funeral for a solid brass casket to hold the remains of his stepson, George Brown Baynes, at a cost of $5,595.

A placard identified the casket as solid brass.

Unbeknownst to Baynes, he apparently got a steel receptacle instead.

“If the casket had been buried in a cemetery plot, the defendants’ misrepresentations might have gone undetected,” Baynes’ attorneys said in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Johnstown.

Instead, the remains and casket were stored temporarily during the construction of a mausoleum in Georgia.

“Approximately 10 months later, the casket was removed from storage in a temporary mausoleum, revealing that the casket had become rusted and stained and leaked fluids,” the suit

says.

The defendants then shipped a replacement casket, but it didn’t fit the mausoleum, the lawsuit claims. George Baynes and his new casket were returned to temporary storage.

“(Robert) Baynes was forced, at his own expense, to redesign and reconstruct the mausoleum to fit the replacement casket for the deceased’s final resting,” according to the suit.

Breach of contract and unfair trade practices are among Baynes’ allegations. He is seeking to recoup the price of the casket, costs to redesign and rebuild the mausoleum and temporary storage costs after the casket was found to have leaked.

He is seeking treble damages of more than $75,000.

A manager for Mason Funeral said the home would have no comment.

Lehman could not immediately be reached.

Sweatt, though, had plenty to say.

“I felt terrible for Bobby Baynes,” Sweatt said. “Bottom line: Bobby Baynes got screwed trying to bury his stepson.”

Sweatt said he had nothing to do with it, though, and doubted that malice was involved by any of the parties.

Sweatt said he sells caskets to a variety of funeral homes, which then sell directly to customers from their show floor.

“I sell wholesale to funeral homes or cemeteries,” Sweatt said. “They can do anything they want with the caskets after that. That’s their business. They can make a planter in their front yard, make it into a go-cart and race it down the street.”

Sweatt said he doesn’t carry “solid brass” placards and wouldn’t know where to find one.

He said brass and steel caskets can be indistinguishable to the eye. They can be told apart by their weight – and price. He said a bronze casket – at $3,200 wholesale in 2005 – costs roughly twice as much as steel.

Beyond that, he said either material should not leak in 10 months and could remain sealed “forever,” unless the casket is dropped or otherwise manhandled.

He said the Baynes receptacle could have been damaged by airport or trucking handlers, at the mausoleum in Georgia or by any number of people.

Getting banged up is what caused the leakage, Sweatt said, not him.

“I don’t need a lawyer. I’m innocent,” he said Friday.

The case has been sent to Alternative Dispute Resolution, which seeks to resolve disputes through settlement instead of litigation.