Aug 15, 2008 12:15 am US/Pacific
San Francisco Funeral Home Gets More Complaints
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
CBS 5 Investigates has found several people upset with Derek Washington, who owns the Funerals by Washington mortuary. One grieving widow said her money disappeared. Another family said their loved one's body disappeared.
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Washington from his car window as CBS 5 tried to ask him about complaints against his mortuary. Complaints such as the widow of Rayfield Raglor, who paid Funerals by Washington over $5,000 last March to bury her husband. But after the funeral service, she began getting collection notices from the cemetery, saying it never received its money.
"I called Derek several times," said the widow, who's been trying to resolve the problem since March, 2008. "I've written Derek several letters. He has not responded to me to this day!"
And then there's the family of Robert Thomas, who died in 2006 at age 63 after a long illness.
"They were horrible, horrible!" said Robert's sister Sedalia, who contracted with Funerals by Washington to properly embalm and prepare Robert's body so his mother could see him one last time.
"She just wanted to say goodbye to her son, that's it," said Robert's sister, Gwen. But when the family arrived at Funerals by Washington for that final viewing, they say they were told Robert's body was already gone.
"They already sent him to be cremated," Gwen said.
But was that really true? Documents examined by CBS 5 investigates tell a different story. Because while the family says the funeral home told them on March 3rd, 2006, that Robert's body had been sent for cremation, the Sacramento crematory's records show that the body did not arrive there until March 17th—a full two weeks later.
That news left the family stunned.
"My mother just wanted to see my brother's face for the last time," said Sedalia. "That's what she wanted; she just wanted to see her son! She couldn't even do that. She couldn't do it."
Families' complaining about poor service at a funeral home is bad enough. But CBS 5 Investigates has uncovered far more serious allegations against this mortuary, which serves Bayview-Hunters Point, one of San Francisco's most challenged neighborhoods. Those allegations come from outside and inside the funeral home itself.
Donny Easterling shook his head when he said, "Things do happen at Funerals By Washington." As a licensed embalmer, Easterling says he used to work regularly at Funerals by Washington.
"I became suspicious," he said, "since I didn't do any embalming for quite awhile." He was suspicious about who was really doing the work. So Easterling went to the county health department, where he found death certificates with his name signed as the embalmer, but he said, "It wasn't my signature." Easterling said he had never embalmed those bodies.
Derek Washington eventually admitted to the State Cemetery and Funeral Bureau that he had embalmed at least three bodies, even though he doesn't have the training or license to do so. He was charged with illegal embalming and forgery.
CBS 5 Investigates asked Easterling, "Why would somebody do that? Why would somebody fake it?"
"To save money," said Easterling, "without paying the embalmer."
CBS 5 Investigates wanted to talk to Derek Washington about all this and caught up to him as he was leaving the funeral home recently. But when CBS 5 tried to ask him about the state's charges against him, he climbed into his van and started driving away.
Stopped at a red light, he rolled down the window and said, "I don't know what you're talking about," then drove away with the comment, "Have a nice day."
But families who have complained about Funerals by Washington say they're still feeling the pain from how they were treated.
"He says he's out here trying to be a service to the community," said the sister of Robert Thomas. "But he's not of service to the community. He's a crook! He's a crook! And I mean a crook."
So what happens to a funeral director charged with such serious allegations? The state filed the case against Washington nearly two years ago, but not much happened until after CBS 5 Investigates first story last month.
Now they say a settlement has been reached revoking Washington's license to operate a funeral parlor—but only technically—because the state will allow Washington to continue to operate on probation. Which means Funerals by Washington is still open for business.
He does however have to take a course—on ethics.
Although he agreed to probation, Derrick Washington told CBS 5 Thursday that he is not guilty of the charges against him.
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