The owners of Poca-based Gatens-Harding Funeral Home have denied the allegations outlined in a lawsuit filed in federal court last month alleging the local business had bilked an insurance company out of more than $900,000 in pre-need funeral contracts.
Last week, Chad and Billie Harding, owners of the area funeral home, officially responded to a five-count lawsuit filed in the Southern District of West Virginia in August by Iowa-based Homesteaders Life Company.
In a 45-page complaint, the insurance company alleged the Hardings had sold and cashed in on pre-need funeral contracts to 111 people from 2005 to 2013 who weren't actually dead.
In their response, which was filed Thursday, the Hardings denied any wrongdoing and asked the complaint and claims for damages be dismissed.
"The alleged losses or damages experienced by the plaintiffs, if any, were not proximately caused by any acts or omissions of these Defendants either individually or in any of their individual or official capacities," the response reads.
On all five counts, which include fraud and racketeering, the Hardings deny the allegations set forth by Homsteaders Life Company.
In their complaint, the insurance company determined that only 14 out of 111 people who signed a pre-need contract with the funeral home during the aforementioned time period were actually deceased. The people who were deceased, the insurance said, had passed after the funeral home had previously cashed in on their pre-need contract.
Pre-need funeral arrangements are sold by funeral homes as part of group life insurance plans, which are designed to fund the funeral services for those enrolled. In the event of the consumer's death, the insurance company distributes money to the funeral home to cover the costs of services and arrangements.
In addition to denying the allegations, the Hardings also suggest the plaintiff's attempts to seek punitive damages would violate the U.S. Constitution.
"It is a violation of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment ... which are penal in nature, against a civil Defendant upon the Plaintiff satisfying burden of proof which is less than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" burden of proof required in criminal cases," the Hardings state in their response.
The couple, who are being represented by Scott Depot-based lawyer Jeff Woods, are seeking a jury trial.
On Friday - the day after the Hardings filed their response to the lawsuit - U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers, who has been assigned to the case, issued an order outlining the timeline for the court's proceedings. A status conference has been scheduled for the morning of Nov. 30.
A violation of pre-need contracts would fall under Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's Consumer Protection Division. It remains unclear whether or not the attorney general is investigating the local funeral home, which has locations in Charleston and Red House, as well as Poca.
Less than a week after being named in the lawsuit, Chad Harding, who had been serving as the president of the West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners, was replaced on the board by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
Harding was first appointed to the state board in March 2010 by then-Gov. Joe Manchin.
The Hardings have yet to respond to multiple requests for comment from the Gazette-Mail, including another attempt over the weekend.
Following initial reports of the Homesteader Life Company's lawsuit, the following statement was published on Gatens-Harding Funeral Home's Facebook page, " We want to say thank you to all the people that have called, email and text to say I love you and we support you. There are always two sides to every story. We are not perfect and yes we make mistakes. Our attorney is working to get this resolved as soon as possible and if we owe anything it will be paid completely. We appreciate your continued prayers."
Reach Joel Ebert at joel.ebert@dailymailwv.com, 304-348-4843, or follow @joelebert29 on Twitter.