A Greensburg couple and a Scottdale funeral director have sued a Dauphin County cremation company alleging it unlawfully sold prepaid services to customers despite not being properly licensed by the state.
The lawsuit recently was filed by Robert Weber and his wife, Sylvia, of Greensburg, and Scottdale funeral director Robert B. Ferguson Jr. against Cremation Society Inc. of Harrisburg.
The Webers and Ferguson are seeking full restitution, plus interest, on money clients have paid the society to purchase "Pre-Need Cremation Contracts."
The lawsuit follows a decision last fall by Westmoreland Judge William Ober in a four-year-old lawsuit filed by Ferguson that Cremation Society, the state's oldest and largest cremation provider, operated illegally as an unlicensed funeral facility between 1981 and 2004. The lawsuit alleges the society, which is still operating, has 12,500 living holders of such contracts.
Ober delayed making a decision on the remedies of the original lawsuit in September in light of ongoing proceedings regarding Cremation Society in other venues. Ober noted that in 2004, after two state Supreme Court decisions on similar issues, the society did affiliate with Auer Memorial Home and Cremation Services Inc., also in Dauphin County.
Ober is expected to schedule further hearings on the matter.
A major point of contention yet to be decided in those cases is the handling of irrevocable trusts. While state-licensed funeral directors are required to place 100 percent of pre-cremation handling payments into trusts, Ferguson has contended that prior to 2002, Cremation Society admitted placing only 70 percent of the money into a trust for a member.
According to the local lawsuit, the Webers inked contracts with the society in 1993 and paid $1,560.
"Because the Pre-Need Cremation Contracts have been illegal since their inception, plaintiffs and the plaintiff class are entitled to interest in the amount of monies they have paid to Cremation (Society) to purchase the Pre-Need Cremation Contracts from the date of those contracts to present," the lawsuit states.
Ferguson's attorney, James S. Lederach of Scottdale, said the Webers approached him in light of the publicity following Ober's decision.
"(The Webers) were concerned about their investment and whether it could be in jeopardy in light of the decision last fall," Lederach said.
Cremation Society's attorney, Jordan Cunningham of Harrisburg, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
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