Grand View cemetery faces another lawsuit

GLENDALE — Another personal-injury lawsuit has been filed against Grand View Memorial Park, adding 100 people to the list of those seeking compensation from the cemetery for allegedly mishandling their loved ones' remains.

Aroustamian & Associates filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court last week. It is the third personal-injury lawsuit against the cemetery since its legal troubles began in October 2005, said Mary Der-Parseghian, an attorney with the law firm.

The lawsuit claims that those named in the suit suffered emotional distress due to the cemetery's breach of contract and mishandling and mistreatment of the remains of people buried there, Der-Parseghian said.

The amount they are suing for has not been determined, she said.

Nearly two years have passed since state investigators reportedly discovered the cremated remains of 4,000 people who were not properly buried or disposed of at the Glendale cemetery.

People with loved ones or relatives buried at Grand View filed a class-action lawsuit — which is different from a personal-injury lawsuit — against the cemetery and its owners on Nov. 4, 2005.

Their complaint for damages includes breach of contract and negligence.

The class-action lawsuit would cover contractual damages — such as misplaced headstones or compensation for plots — not personal or emotional injury, Der-Parseghian said.

The owners and operators named in all three suits include Marsha Lee Howard, the latest owner of the cemetery, who died in November; Moshe Goldsman, who took over as operator when Howard was removed; Jack Grossman, who ran the cemetery from 1990 to 1999; and members of the Hepburn family, who ran the cemetery from 1929 to 1990.

Kimberly Howatt, an attorney who represents Howard's estate, and attorney Tina Mangarpan, who represents Goldsman, did not respond to phone calls Wednesday.

Eagle Rock resident David Tsuriel, who has a pre-purchased plot at Grand View and whose adoptive family is buried there, said that while he is not involved in any of the current lawsuits, he has thought about it.

"I'm very upset," he said. "I actually want to sue them to move my family from there to another cemetery so they'd be treated right … with a little bit of dignity."

Personal-injury lawsuits — which seek compensation, monetary or otherwise, for emotional distress over the shutdown and mismanagement of the cemetery — were filed in November 2006 and April 2007.

"So it would cover more of the emotional heartbreak of the inability to go, the emotional distress of how the cemetery has been deteriorated," Der-Parseghian said.

The 100 people in the latest lawsuit bring the total number of suing parties to about 300, she said. And her firm plans to file at least one more personal-injury lawsuit in the next couple of months.

"These clients are just now figuring out what's been going on," she said. "Some people are not Glendale residents. They're from out of town."

At least $6 million in insurance has been identified as funds that can be used to settle the lawsuits, Der-Parseghian said. Another $1 million is in the cemetery's endowment care fund, of which $20,000 to $40,000 of accrued interest can be used for compensation, she said.

How much money those suing the cemetery can expect cannot yet be determined, she said.