Funeral Home Firm Service Corporation International Faces Lawsuits, Complaints

"I needed to be there for Jordan," Hale said, adding that the beautiful ceremony weeks earlier, with balloons and goodbyes, was dignified and special, in contrast to the shovels and backhoe that accompanied the reinterment. "I wanted to stay to make sure it was done properly."

In a letter to Burgess on Feb. 14, SCI Market Director Christopher Downey apologized to Hale but said, "Mt. Comfort performed its services as requested," and noted that the cemetery provided Hale with a refund check of $2,488.75. She has not cashed it.

Downey, who has management and oversight responsibilities for SCI's 13 locations in the Washington area, wrote that the initial burial was "too shallow" and that a four-inch-thick granite slab was placed over the grave after "an animal had been spotted by the gravesite." Downey also wrote that cemetery employees strongly advised Hale not to view the disinterment but "despite our warning and insistence, she demanded to be present."

He offered to donate $500 to charity in Jordan's name as recompense, according to the letter.

Whistleblowers who have brought the allegations about mishandling of bodies at SCI's central preparation facility have said that Downey is at the heart of problems there. Steven Napper, a former Maryland state trooper who worked as an SCI embalmer, said he went to Downey in January to raise concerns about the inappropriate storage of bodies in the garage and unsanitary conditions.

Napper said Downey, whose office is at National Funeral Home, brushed him off and appeared to ignore the complaints. Napper later reported his concerns to a Virginia regulatory board and resigned in February. After the Post article appeared, SCI launched an internal investigation.

"I went to Chris Downey personally in January to explain that there was not enough storage capacity at central and to discuss my concerns about the handling of the deceased," Napper said. "He knew all about it, but he did not respond."

Requests to speak with Downey were referred to an SCI spokeswoman.

"All of us want to know the facts behind what happened, and we're diligently conducting an investigation," said Lisa Marshall, the spokeswoman. "If we find wrongdoing, we will promptly take the necessary corrective action required."

Family members of two military officers whose bodies were stored on unrefrigerated garage racks said Downey contacted them just before the first Post story ran and said that the allegations were false and were coming from a disgruntled former employee.

Richard Morgan Jr., whose father, Maj. Richard Morgan, was left in his light oak coffin on the racks before his burial at Arlington in February, said Downey backed down when Morgan said he had seen photographs of the conditions in the garage.

"I got a little irate, and I said, 'I've seen the pictures, and you can't dispute the pictures. These aren't just allegations,' " Morgan said. He added that Downey offered him a refund and that he recently received a check for $14,111, though he said he does not plan to cash it as he pursues legal options.

Hale, who has a 9-month-old daughter named Zoe, said she is suing SCI because she wants things to change at Mount Comfort Cemetery. Burgess, her attorney, said the company already appears to have acknowledged that the burial did not go as it should have.

"It was done out of laziness, it appears, and out of a desire not to dig a deep hole," he said. "I don't think it was done maliciously, but it was done fairly recklessly. Nsombi wants to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else. With big corporations, sometimes the only way to get their attention is to get into their pocketbook."