Woman Sues Cemetery Over Crypt Treatment

A woman has filed a lawsuit against a Shaker Heights, Ohio, cemetery, saying she was not warned about a gas well near her family crypt.

Josephine Vitale said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court that Knollwood Cemetery officials did not tell her of the plan to drill for oil near the crypt, which houses the bodies of her parents and son, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Thursday.

Vitale’s suit also blasted the workmanship of the crypt, which she claims is surrounded by sinking land, is not level and features exposed foundation that is crumbling. The suit also claims the cemetery failed to fulfill a promise to replace the “rotted, moldy and deteriorated caskets” of her parents.

“This episode has deeply affected me, especially with the cold and callous behavior that I never expected from a cemetery,” Vitale said in a statement. “I’ve always been very private in my personal life, but I hope through this lawsuit I might be able to spare other people from the added anguish that I’ve had to bear.”