NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – U-Haul can’t be blamed for a funeral home using its vehicles to store dead bodies, some of which were left to decompose in unrefrigerated trucks.
That’s according to Kings County Supreme Court Justice Mark Partnow, who on April 29 ruled against Assata Constant in her attempt to hold U-Haul liable for the actions of Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Services of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cleckley was the target of headlines after bodies were found in U-Haul trucks last year. Cleckley said he was dealing with an increase in corpses because of the COVID-19 pandemic and fought, in addition to ensuing litigation, the suspension of his license to operate.
Lawyers John Bazzurro and Michael Shaw sued Cleckley and U-Haul for Constant over the treatment of the remains of her father, Gilbert Constant. They alleged negligent infliction of emotional distress against U-Haul.
They said U-Haul owed a duty to the public to ensure its trucks were rented for lawful purposes and should have asked Cleckley why he was renting so many trucks, considering the company must have known he is a funeral director.
That theory is insufficient, Partnow ruled.
“Plaintiff has failed to allege that U-Haul possessed any special knowledge concerning a characteristic or condition peculiar to the Cleckley Funeral Home, as opposed to any other funeral home generally, which would render its use of the U-Haul trucks illegal, improper or dangerous,” Partnow wrote.
The decision keeps plaintiffs lawyers from tapping in to the deep pockets of U-Haul. Partnow said it owed no duty to prevent the misuse of its trucks.
“This is more so the case as U-Haul lacked authority to control the Cleckley Funeral Home’s conduct,” he wrote.