NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appeals court Wednesday strongly rebuked New Orleans Coroner Dwight McKenna, using his own words against him to uphold a lower court’s ruling from March that his office engaged in “reckless and outrageous misconduct.”
Not only did the appellate judges agree that McKenna’s office was liable for cremating a man’s remains without notifying his family, but they also awarded the family five times more money for their pain and suffering.
Benjamin Pfantz’s parents sued McKenna in 2023, after the coroner’s office cremated their son’s remains without notifying them. It was one of four lawsuits against McKenna’s office for allegedly mishandling dead bodies. Two have gone to trial so far and both ended in findings of negligence by the coroner’s office…