Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the widow and other relatives of a man who died of cancer in 2022 and allegedly was not dressed according to Buddhist tradition as requested by the family before his cremation, maintaining that the widow never made fully clear her intentions for her husband’s remains.
Joann Chen — the widow of the late Mike Chen — her two sons and two grandchildren brought the negligence suit in Los Angeles Superior Court. But in court papers filed Thursday with Judge Lynne M. Hobbs asking that the case be tossed out, Rose Hills attorneys blame much of the problem on poor communications from the Chen family.
“The parties would not be engaged in this litigation if Mrs. Chen had asked the arranger to make sure the decedent was dressed in clothes provided by the family,” the cemetery lawyers maintain in their pleadings in advance of a July 10 hearing on the motion. “Had Mrs. Chen done so, the arranger would have known to ensure that the decedent was dressed prior to the cremation.
Only Joann Chen knew that she wanted her husband dressed prior to the cremation, Rose Hills attorneys further contend in their court papers.
“If she wanted to ensure that her husband was dressed according to her wishes, she had an obligation to mention it during the at-need funeral arrangements,” cemetery lawyers state in their court papers.
A hospital supervisor told a Rose Hills transportation driver that the Chen family had dressed Mike Chen “behind her back” before the remains were taken to the mortuary, a violation of hospital policy, according to the Rose Hills lawyers’ court papers.
Rose Hills policy calls for removing clothing on a decedent’s remains upon first arrival at the mortuary so that the remains can be inspected for documentation of their condition and the body was covered with a white linen sheet “consistent with the Buddhist belief that any covering on decedent at the time of cremation should be modest, thereby emphasizing the importance of the decedent’s soul leaving his physical body as he enters the afterlife,” according to the Rose Hills’ lawyers pleadings.
The suit was filed in September 2022 and states that Mike Chen was terminally ill with cancer at the City of Hope in Duarte on June 16, 2022, and his death was expected soon, so Joann Chen met with a mortuary representative at a Rose Hills office in Alhambra to prepare for her husband’s funeral and told her that the family would dress her spouse in clothing that he had chosen according to his Buddhist faith.
The representative said she was aware of the importance of the dressing request and assured Joann Chen it would be honored, the suit states.
Under Buddhist tradition, it is important for the deceased to be dressed properly with shoes on when either buried or cremated with full attire so the deceased can have a proper afterlife. In addition, Chinese culture and tradition requires that the deceased be buried or cremated with full clothing on because not doing so is a showing of “utmost disrespect and disservice to the deceased and it also means that the family did not fulfill their due diligence in having the proper burial for the deceased if there is no clothing,” according to the suit.
Buddhists believe that if the deceased does not have shoes on during cremation, he or she will be unable to walk in the afterlife and will not be able to travel “on the road of the passing,” according to the suit.
Mike Chen died June 22, 2022, and his widow and oldest son, with the help of two nurses, dressed him in clothing and shoes that he had chosen for his cremation, the suit states. His two grandchildren had written two personal farewell letters to their grandfather and these correspondences were to be buried with him so he could “have something forever from his two dearest grandsons that he loved the most,” the plaintiffs say.
The two letters were placed inside the pocket of the jacket that Mike wore, but allegedly were not with him when he was cremated.
Joann Chen was denied permission by Rose Hills to view her husband’s July 5, 2022, cremation, but the family was not told in advance about when it would take place, the suit states. The mortuary allegedly apologized to Joann Chen the next day and told her she could pick up her late spouse’s ashes and urn.
Twelve days later, a Rose Hills representative surprised Joann Chen by calling her and saying she could pick up Mike Chen’s clothing and shoes, the suit states.
“Joann had an emotional meltdown,” the suit states. ” She then realized that Mike Chen was cremated without his shoes and clothing.”
Asked what could be done about the alleged mistake, the supervisor told Joann Chen and her son, “The best I can do right now is refund you about $800 back,” leaving the two Chens “dumbfounded,” the suit states.
Rose Hills also later offered to cremate Mike Chen’s personal attire and belongings, pour and mix the items into his ashes with a new urn and conduct a ceremony with Buddhist monks, the suit states.
The Chen family refused the offer because it did not provide “any meaningful accountability by Rose Hills for such a grave mistake,” which brought “shame and disgrace” to the family, traumatized them with “incomprehensible duress” and “created both cultural and religious violations for the family,” the suit states.