Disclaimer: This synopsis is intended to provide only general information about this case before the Nevada Supreme Court. It is not intended to be all inclusive or reflect all positions of the parties.
Bishop Gorman High School Full Court
This case stems from a request from the United States District Court, District of Nevada, for a Supreme Court decision on legal matters where there is no controlling Nevada precedent. In the incident leading to the legal action, Richard Boorman succumbed to a lethal dose of alcohol and drugs while in Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Richard’s body was transported to the Clark County coroner for autopsy, where his internal organs were removed. The coroner maintains that the organs were then placed in a plastic bag and left with the body. Richard’s body was then sent to the mortuary, which embalmed it before returning it to family members in London, England, without his internal organs. After discovering the absence of Richard’s organs, the family filed an action against Memorial Cremation Society, Clark County, and the employees of both entities, alleging, among other claims, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion, related to the mishandling of Richard’s body. Because no clearly controlling Nevada precedent for these issues exists, the district court certified several questions to the Supreme Court. ISSUES: What class of persons may bring a claim for negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress for the mishandling of a deceased person’s remains? Does that person need to be present and observe the negligent act? Does that person need to demonstrate some physical manifestation of emotional distress? Does a county coroner’s office owe a duty to the family members of a deceased individual not to lose, misplace, or misappropriate the deceased person’s organs such that the coroner’s office could be liable for emotional distress claims? Does a claim for conversion of a deceased human body or its parts exist under Nevada law, and if so, what class of person may bring such a claim? If such a claim exists, may a plaintiff recover emotional distress damages arising out of conversion of the human remains?
