Trenton attorney Robin Kay Lord is suing Bloomfield-Cooper Jewish Chapels in Manalapan, New Jersey, a funeral home affiliated with the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral and cemetery service providers, The Trentorian reported last week. Representing her father, Leroy Kay, Attorney Kay Lord alleges that, in 2020, her mother, Janet Kay, was buried in another woman’s clothes, wearing that other woman’s wedding ring, next to a strange man in the wrong cemetery.
Janet Kay, 82, of Lakewood, died in her sleep on Oct. 3, 2020.
According to the lawsuit, the family provided the mortuary with the late Janet Kay’s clothes and jewelry with which they wanted her to be buried, but she was buried in another woman’s clothes, wearing someone else’s ring “next to a deceased man she does not know and on a Jewish holiday.”
OK, question: since when are Jews buried on Jewish holidays? Also: since when are Jews buried in their clothes and with jewelry?
The Kay family reported a “prolonged delay” on the day of the mother’s services, and Bloomfield-Cooper called to ask Janet’s husband questions that suggested his wife’s body had been misplaced.
According to the lawsuit, family members were face-timed and showed them “a woman who was not Janet Kay. The unidentified woman was dressed in Janet Kay’s clothing and wearing her jewelry. Leroy Kay could not bear to look as he was terrified of what he would see. In front of at least sixty people, some family members screamed and one nonagenarian (that’s 90+) had to sit down as she almost fainted.”
Janet Kay was supposed to be interred in Mount Sinai Cemetery in Marlboro, NJ, the day after her passing, Oct. 4, 2020. But her remains were taken to northern New Jersey, where she was buried, according to the lawsuit. When the family went to the Morganville cemetery for a memorial service on October 6, 2020, they held the service without Janet’s body.
“Janet Kay’s final corporal moments in the eyes of the Jewish faith were not presented to her full family and friends. Janet Kay was not buried with respect and dignity,” according to the lawsuit.
On Oct. 7, 2020, Bloomfield-Cooper exhumed Janet’s body from its grave in northern NJ and the next day invited Robin Kay Lord to their Manalapan office to identify her mother’s body, before the family buried Janet Kay in a smaller ceremony, this time in her intended grave.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, breach of contract, violation of a right to have a proper burial, and infliction of emotional distress.
Robin Lord’s website says she has successfully defended persons accused of crimes throughout the State of New Jersey. From murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, bank robbery, drug distribution, official misconduct, theft, carjacking, burglary, armed robbery, fraud, and racketeering along with possession of weapons; Robin has a large and successful portfolio. Some of these victories involved DNA, fingerprints, and other identification evidence as well as other forensic evidence.
“Robin Lord believes that only an aggressive legal defense will defend you when accused of committing a serious crime. That is why hundreds of clients have chosen Robin for over a quarter century to defend their cases with passion and care. Most people do not often understand the variety of defenses that might be available to them. Only with skilled representation can your rights be thoroughly investigated and fully protected. Robin will level the playing field and see to it that your rights are protected.”
