Date: 09-03-2012
Case Style: Angela Allen v. North Star Memorial Group, LLC
Case Number: CJ-2010-4605
Judge: Rebecca B. Nightingale
Court: District Court, Tulsa County, Oklahoma
Plaintiff's Attorney: Donald E. Smolen, II, Smolen, Smolen & Roytman, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Defendant's Attorney: Harry A. Parrish, Feldman, Franden, Woodard & Farris, Tulsa, Oklahoma for North Star Funeral Services of Oklahoma, LLC, North Star Cenetery Services of Oklahoma, LLC and Mark Blankenship
Steve R. Hickman, Frasier, Frasier & Hickman, Tulsa, Oklahoma for Floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc.
Description: Angela Allen, Pamela Prescott and Sheila Whisenhunt sued North Star Memorial Group, LLC, North Star Cemetery Services of Oklahoma, LLC, North Star Funderal Services of Oklahoma, LLC, Floral Haven Funeral Homes, Inc. and Mark Blankenship on breach of contract theories.
STATEMENT OF UNDISPUTED MATERIAL FACTS
1. Floral Haven Memorial Gardens is an express trust which for thirty-five years operated a cemetery known as Floral Haven Memorial Gardens. At some point more than a decade ago it added a mausoleum as part of its cemetery services. Statement of Kelsey.
2. In 1989, Floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc., a Defendant herein, was organized and went into business. Its business was furnishing funeral services.
3. On February 5,2008, Floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc., a Defendant herein, sold substantially all of its assets to one or more of the NorthStar entities, including the right to use the trade name of Floral Haven Funeral Home. From that point forward all funeral services furnished under the Floral Haven Funeral Home name were furnished by one of the NorthStar entities, not by this Defendant, Floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc. This Defendant, floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc., has not conducted any business operations nor used the Floral Haven trade name since February 5, 2008. Statement of Kelsey.
4. In conjunction with the sale of this Defendant’s, Floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc., assets to the NorthStar entities on February 5, 2008, substantially all of the assets of Floral Haven Memorial Gardens, an express trust, were sold on February 5,2008, to NorthStar-related entities. Since that date the express trust has not conducted any business operations nor used the Floral Haven trade name. The stock in the express trust was never owned by this Defendant, Floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc. Statement of Kelsey.
5. This Defendant, Floral Haven Funeral Home, Inc., requested of Plaintiffs in discovery to describe what actions were being sued over and when those occurred. That was answered in the response to Interrogatory No. 4. The answer refers to actions taking place in June and July, 2009. See answer to Interrogatory No. 4.
6. The actions complained of in June and July, 2009, do not concern funeral services, but rather concern cemetery services. Those would have been matters of the cemetery express trust rather than the funeral home corporation. Statement of Kelsey.
Outcome: Settled during mediation by Dispute Resolution Consultants.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments:
