Sackett v. St. Mary's Church Society

Pursuing both tort and contract theories of recovery, the plaintiffs sought damages for mental distress, unaccompanied by physical injury, as a result of an untoward incident following the funeral of their father. The funeral had been in the morning, ending with a brief graveside committal service. The casket was not lowered into the grave, however, because the family (the plaintiffs’ two brothers and another sister) wished a rearrangement of coffins within the family plot. To accomplish that, another gravehole was dug next to the first. By midaftemoon funeral home personnel returned the…