Manhattan funeral home sued after mistakenly cremating man
Manhattan funeral home sued after mistakenly cremating man
A Manhattan funeral home is facing legal action after allegedly cremating the wrong person and trying to convince a grieving family that a stranger in the casket was their deceased father. The incident is the latest in a series of complaints against the business involving deceptive practices and mishandled remains.
NEW YORK - A Manhattan funeral home is facing a lawsuit after allegedly cremating an 88-year-old man by mistake and attempting to convince his grieving family that a stranger laying in the casket was their relative.
When the family of Jose Daniel Diaz-Felipe arrived for his viewing on May 28 at the RG Ortiz Funeral Home in Upper Manhattan, they say they immediately recognized that the body dressed in their father's clothes was not him.
What they're saying:
"I saw that man with my father's clothes… she was trying to convince me and my relatives that that was our father," one family member told FOX 5 N.Y.
Family members say that they spent four hours trying to persuade staff that a mix-up had occurred, pointing out physical differences between their father and the man in the casket.
"Dad was bald, you know, this guy had hair and there were different complexions as well," said another family member. "There were so many things. It was horrible."
The family say they even resorted to removing the shoes of the deceased man to prove the mistake, noting that Diaz-Felipe had lost a toe to diabetes. It was then that the funeral home revealed the truth: Diaz-Felipe had been cremated by mistake a week prior.
The family's attorney, Phil Rizzuto, noted there was a clear height differential and that the man placed in the casket was significantly younger than the 84-year-old patriarch.
"They had to have known they made a mistake, and they were just trying to convince a grieving family that a man who wasn't their father was," Rizzuto said. "And I think what makes it worse is the fact that they cremated him a week before."
When asked how the mix-up occurred, the funeral home allegedly told the family that they had received three bodies with the same name during the same week.
Diaz-Felipe's children, Jose Jr. and Jacinta, refused to accept the ashes offered by the funeral home because they could not be sure the remains actually belonged to their father. Through their attorney, the family said they filed a summons of complaint on Wednesday, taking the first official step toward a lawsuit.
Big picture view:
This is not the first time RG Ortiz has come under fire.
In April 2024, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection sued the business over allegations that it concealed service prices, failed to deliver paid-for services and refused to disclose the location of loved ones' remains. Without admitting wrongdoing, RG Ortiz settled the enforcement action in August 2024, agreeing to pay over $700,000 in restitution and civil penalties, according to the department.
City records additionally show that since 2018, at least 74 complaints have been filed against the funeral home detailing "predatory and deceptive practices targeting grieving families."
FOX 5 N.Y. made several attempts to contact the corporate office of RG Ortiz for comment, but representatives did not respond.
The Source: Information from FOX 5 N.Y. reporting and the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.