CHARLESTON – The parent company of cemeteries across the state have been sued again, this time by a former employee who was injured on the job.
Bobby Foster of Scarbro filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Stonemor Partners LP, Stonemor GP LLC and Stonemor Operating LLC, all of which are based in Pennsylvania. Stonemor operates cemeteries across the state, including Kanawha Valley Memorial Gardens in Glasgow, where Foster worked.
According to Foster’s complaint, he had been working for the company for only a handful of days when, one day, there had been a lawnmower wreck where the mower actually fell into a hole which had been excavated for a grave for an upcoming burial. Foster says he was told to go get a large tractor to pull the mower out of the hole. Foster told his coworkers he didn’t know how to operate the tractor and had no driver’s license, but he was told to perform the task anyway or “he would be fired on the spot.”
Foster says the tractor was in disrepair, including having a solenoid wire bypass the ignition switch, essentially hotwiring the tractor. When he started it, the tractor stalled. Foster says he went to get a drink and tried to start the tractor again.
“To do so, the plaintiff did not sit in the seat, but had to sit in front of the rear tire adjacent to the operator’s compartment,” the complaint states. “As the plaintiff attempted to start the tractor, it lurched forward, running over him and crushing his head.”
As a result of the incident, Foster says he was injured and hospitalized for several days and required multiple surgeries. His injuries included a partial dislocation of his right temporomandibular joint, post-traumatic stress syndrome, right facial cellulitis, extraction of three teeth, several facial fractures, scarring, impacted teeth, abnormal positioning of right TMJ and dental caries.
He says he has endured physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and suffering, permanent physical impairment, loss of wages and benefits, loss of future earning capacity and benefits, loss of capacity to enjoy life, medical expenses, annoyance, inconvenience, permanent scarring and disfigurement.
Foster seeks compensatory and punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief.
In their answer filed last month, the defendants deny the allegations.
Foster is represented by D. Blake Carter Jr. of Bailey Javins & Carter in Charleston as well as by Stephen New and Amanda Taylor of New Taylor & Associates in Beckley. The defendants are represented by Devon J. Stewart and Colton C. Parsons of Steptoe & Johnson’s Charleston office. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard.
Stonemor has been sued at least six other times in recent years in West Virginia courts, including one last year when a woman says her sister’s casket floated to the surface days after her burial at a Stonemor facility in Cabell County.
In 2020, a Kanawha County family learned a body had been buried in a plot it purchased at Kanawha Valley Memorial Gardens more than 40 years ago. The judge in that case ordered the parties to arbitrate the dispute, and the court case was dismissed.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 21-C-814