IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE STATE OF OREGON FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY. Case No. COMPLAINT. Negligence

Transcription

1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE STATE OF OREGON FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY 1 KIMBERLY GRECCO, v. Plaintiff, CASCADE FUNERAL DIRECTORS, INC. and RANDY G. TJADEN, Defendants. Case No. COMPLAINT Negligence Amount in Controversy: $,00,000 Fee Authority: ORS.0(1)(d) Filing Fee: $ Claim Not Subject to Mandatory Arbitration Demand for Jury Trial 1. JURISDICTION AND THE PARTIES This Court has jurisdiction because Mrs. Grecco s negligence claim arises under Oregon law. Venue is proper because a substantial part of the events and omissions giving rise to Mrs. Grecco s claim occurred while she resided in Multnomah County, Oregon. COMPLAINT Page 1 of

2 1. Defendant Cascade Funeral Directors, Inc. (Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board License No. CR-01) is a multi-million-dollar Oregon corporation doing cremation business as Cascade Cremation Center and Crown Memorial Center in Tualatin, Oregon. Defendant Randy G. Tjaden (Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board License No. CO-1) is an individual residing in Oregon doing cremation business as Cascade Cremation Center and Crown Memorial Center in Tualatin, Oregon. Defendants maintain joint control and employee supervision responsibilities at Cascade Cremation Center. Defendants are jointly responsible to maintain adequate procedures to ensure their employees comply with all Oregon laws and always maintain minimum standards of practice. Defendants maintain their cremation business as a joint venture for profit and for the use and benefit of people entitled to receive the cremated remains of loved ones who have passed away.. Plaintiff Kimberly Grecco is an individual residing in Washington County, Oregon with her family.. This complaint s allegations are based on personal knowledge as to Mrs. Grecco s conduct and made on information and belief as to the acts of others. COMPLAINT Page of

3 . FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS Ronald Roark, pictured below, was born in 0 in Mason City, Washington. 1 COMPLAINT Page of

4 . Mr. Roark passed away on January,. He had no surviving spouse. Mr. Roark had always been very close with his daughter, Kimberly. She sat by her father s side and supported him for the last several months of his life. 1 COMPLAINT Page of

5 . After Mr. Roark passed away, defendants were legally and contractually responsible to cremate his remains and provide the remains to Mrs. Grecco. Defendants provided Mrs. Grecco the package pictured below in or around February : 1 Mrs. Grecco placed the package on her nightstand so her father would be close to her at all times. Mrs. Grecco planned to spread her father s remains off the coast of Oregon on Father s Day. COMPLAINT Page of

6 1. In June on Father s Day, Mrs. Grecco began preparing to spread her father s remains. She and her husband had reservations to stay at the coast and had made travel arrangements. Before leaving, Mrs. Grecco opened the package defendants had given her for the first time. When she looked inside, Mrs. Grecco was horrified to discover that what she had long thought were her father s remains were actually the remains of another man. As pictured below, the toe tag revealed that defendants had somehow switched the remains of Mr. Roark with the remains of another man named Richard Nichol. Mrs. Grecco contacted defendants (through her husband) and was shocked to learn that the Nichol family had already spread her father s remains. COMPLAINT Page of

7 1. Mr. Roark s remains ultimately had to be exhumed from another man s grave at a cemetery wall so they could finally be given to Mrs. Grecco. When her father s remains were ultimately returned to her, Mrs. Grecco was devastated to see that more than half of the ashes were gone and could never be replaced.. As a direct result of defendants behavior as alleged in this complaint, Mrs. Grecco suffered extreme and ongoing feelings of betrayal, horror, shock, and devastation, ultimately requiring mental health treatment, and other severe emotional harm and negative emotions.. Defendants failed to follow adequate procedures and violated Oregon law in the way they handled the remains of Mrs. Grecco s father. Oregon law OAR was designed to protect people like Mrs. Grecco who are entitled to receive the cremated remains of loved ones who have passed away. On March, defendants were reprimanded for the way they behaved in this case. Defendants have admitted on the record to violating Oregon law OAR in the way they mishandled Mr. Roark s remains. But instead of taking responsibility for their failures to maintain adequate procedures and failures to supervise, defendants instead tried to shift all the blame to a nameless employee. COMPLAINT Page of

8 1 1. Defendants behavior as alleged in this complaint violated the common standards required of cremation businesses by members of the Washington County, Oregon community. Upon discovery of evidence of defendants malice, Mrs. Grecco may intend to amend this complaint so the jury can consider whether to punish defendants with proportional punitive damages.. Mrs. Grecco and defendants shared a very special contractual and legal relationship. Defendants knew how extremely important it was to properly handle Mr. Roark s remains, and defendants had a legal duty to exercise reasonable care in providing Mr. Roark s remains to Mrs. Grecco. Defendants expected and should have expected that their behavior as alleged in this complaint would cause Mrs. Grecco extreme ongoing emotional harm. In failing to comply with Oregon law, and in behaving negligently as alleged in this complaint and failing to exercise reasonable care, defendants caused Mrs. Grecco foreseeable injuries including extreme and ongoing feelings of betrayal, horror, shock, and devastation. COMPLAINT Page of

9 1. CAUSE OF ACTION Negligence As alleged in this complaint, defendants breached their legal duty to properly handle Mr. Roark s remains and to properly provide those remains to Mrs. Grecco. OAR was designed to protect people like Mrs. Grecco who are entitled to receive the cremated remains of loved ones who have passed away. Defendants failure to exercise reasonable care as alleged in this complaint directly and proximately caused Mrs. Grecco substantial injuries as alleged in paragraphs through. Defendants negligence as alleged in this complaint created various foreseeable and unreasonable risks of injury to Mrs. Grecco, which also violated Oregon law (i.e., OAR , requiring defendants to abide by minimum standards of practice, etc.), constituting negligence per se. As a result of defendants negligence, Mrs. Grecco respectfully requests fair compensation for her injuries in an amount to be decided by the jury not to exceed $,00, DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL Mrs. Grecco respectfully demands trial by jury of twelve persons. COMPLAINT Page of

10 1 PRAYER FOR RELIEF Mrs. Grecco requests entry of judgment in her favor against defendants for injuries not to exceed $,00,000.00, in an amount to be decided by the jury, and costs. Mrs. Grecco also seeks any other relief this Court deems just and proper. Mrs. Grecco may bring additional claims against defendants (including claims for punitive damages) and may add additional defendants to this lawsuit depending on information she learns through discovery. August, RESPECTFULLY FILED, /s/ Michael Fuller Michael Fuller, OSB No. 0 Lead Attorney for Mrs. Grecco Olsen Daines PC US Bancorp Tower 1 SW th Ave., Suite 0 Portland, Oregon michael@underdoglawyer.com Direct (additional counsel information on next page) COMPLAINT Page of

11 Robert Le, OSB No. 0 Kelly Jones, OSB No. 0 Trial Attorney for Mrs. Grecco Appellate Attorney for Mrs. Grecco The Law Office of Robert Le The Law Office of Kelly Jones rl@robertlelaw.com kellydonovanjones@gmail.com 1 Rex Daines, OSB No. Of Attorneys for Mrs. Grecco Olsen Daines PC US Bancorp Tower 1 SW th Ave., Suite 0 Portland, Oregon rdaines@olsendaines.com Phone 0-- PROOF OF MAILING I declare and certify that on the date below I caused a copy of this complaint to be mailed to the Oregon Attorney General at the following address: Ellen Rosenblum Oregon Attorney General Oregon Department of Justice 1 Court Street NE Salem, Oregon 01-0 August, /s/ Michael Fuller Michael Fuller, OSB No. 0 Lead Attorney for Mrs. Grecco Olsen Daines PC US Bancorp Tower 1 SW th Ave., Suite 0 Portland, Oregon michael@underdoglawyer.com Direct COMPLAINT Page of