Claribel Oppenheimer died on June 18 and was buried on the Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn on June 24
The household of girl whose funeral was allegedly ruined by cemetery employees attempting to stuff her coffin right into a far-too-small grave are suing.
Jose Semidey and Awilda Rivera filed the lawsuit in opposition to Evergreens Cemetery on the Bronx Supreme Court docket Friday, accusing workers of robbing their mom Claribel Oppenheimer of her dignity in her final moments.
‘Having to observe the casket manhandled, broken, opened after which positioned on the grass as a backhoe is introduced in to elongate the grave whereas the casket is being changed is unimaginable, and one thing no household ought to must endure, they wrote within the swimsuit.
The lawsuit, first obtained by New York Daily News, claims workers twisted and turned Oppenheimer’s coffin to get it to suit into the plot that they had dug up on June 24, till the coffin in the end opened revealing Oppenheimer’s arms had been now not crossed.
‘The sound of scraping crammed the air,’ the lawsuit reads, and ‘after what felt like an eternity, the coffin obtained caught,’ at which level the cemetery workers allegedly ‘pulled the coffin from all sides, inflicting sounds of scratching and scraping.’
Jose Semidey and Awilda Rivera filed the lawsuit in opposition to Evergreens Cemetery on the Bronx Supreme Court docket Friday, accusing workers of robbing their mom Claribel Oppenheimer of her dignity in her final moments
The lawsuit, first obtained by New York Every day Information , claims workers twisted and turned Oppenheimer’s coffin to get it to suit into the plot that they had dug up on June 24, till the coffin in the end opened revealing that Oppenheimer’s arms had been now not crossed.
Oppenheimer’s funeral was held at Provenzano Lanza Funeral Dwelling on June 24.
In keeping with the lawsuit, Oppenheimer’s arms had been folded on the time she was positioned into the coffin.
Following the funeral, Oppenheimer was transferred to Evergreens Cemetery, the place 35 of her relations and mates arrived for the burial.
After prayers had been accomplished, household and mates positioned paid their last respects and positioned roses on high of the coffin.
When it got here time to decrease the casket, cemetery laborers started to expertise points.
The coffin was lowered roughly two ft when it began scrapping the perimeters of the opening and would now not decrease, in keeping with the lawsuit.
One worker reportedly tried to maneuver the coffin together with his naked arms and the laborers reportedly took the flowers off from the casket in an effort to get the casket to suit – all as Oppenheimer’s grieving household watched in horror.
Finally, Semidey reportedly requested them to cease, and a pastor requested the employees to get some instruments to make the plot bigger.
Her daughter, Awilda Rivera, filed the lawsuit in Bronx Supreme Court docket on Friday
They then reportedly eliminated the coffin and laid it within the grass the place it sat for an hour as they went to get a backhoe.
The pastor allegedly requested the workers if they might transfer the coffin again into the hearse to get it out of the warmth, the lawsuit claims.
To make issues worse, the lawsuit claims, the workers yelled on the household to get out of the way in which of the backhoe.
The household then reportedly demanded that Oppenheimer get a brand new casket, because it had been broken within the ordeal, and three hours later, her physique was taken again to a funeral house and positioned in a brand new coffin.
‘It’s inexcusable for a cemetery to not dig a grave giant sufficient to suit the casket,’ Eric Rothstein, the legal professional representing Oppenheimer’s household, advised the Every day Information.
‘Having to observe the casket manhandled, broken, opened after which positioned on the grass as a backhoe is introduced in to elongate the grave whereas the casket is being changed is unimaginable, and one thing no household ought to must endure.’
Evergreens Cemetery officers didn’t reply to a request for remark from the Every day Information
‘The sound of scraping crammed the air,’ the lawsuit reads, and ‘after what felt like an eternity, the coffin obtained caught,’ at which level the cemetery workers allegedly ‘pulled the coffin from all sides, inflicting sounds of scratching and scraping.’
Evergreens Cemetery didn’t reply to a request for remark from the Every day Information.
Oppenheimer was born in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico on March 4, 1942, in keeping with a web-based obituary for her. She handed away on June 18 on the age of 79.
It’s unclear what she died of.
She is survived by 11 siblings, 4 kids, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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