THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190593
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY AND JOE JACKSON, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines
A Portsmouth funeral home has become the first in the nation to be penalized by the federal government for imposing a surcharge to embalm victims of AIDS or AIDS-related complications.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday ordered Fisher Funeral Home to refund the additional $300 fee charged to each of nine families, plus damages - a total of $6,300. There were no criminal charges.
The funeral home also must post written policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, including HIV and AIDS, and train its employees concerning universal precautions.
This was the first such settlement by the Justice Department under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) involving AIDS discrimination, Justice officials said on Thursday.
The settlement resulted from a complaint filed in July 1993 by a family charged the extra fee for embalming a 33-year-old man infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
The investigation that followed showed that during between July 1992 and November 1993, Fisher Funeral Home required eight other families to pay the additional charge for embalming services.
``Charging additional fees for the same service, especially when grieving families are involved, is simple discrimination,'' said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick.
Only after they investigated the Portsmouth complaint did Justice officials find that the fee was common practice in Hampton Roads. That apparently is no longer the case.
Jeffrey T. Fisher, spokesman for Fisher Funeral Home, said Thursday that there were no regulations by the state's Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers addressing the issue at the time the fees were charged.
Another local funeral director, who requested anonymity, agreed that guidelines were not clear, or even known, following passage of the ADA in 1990.
Many local funeral homes had a price structure much like Fisher's, he said.
``This was a fairly common practice . . . every time we embalmed an infectious case, we had to buy the full-body suit, what they call `the space suit,' '' the funeral director said. ``Our primary job was public health . . . We passed the cost along.
``In fact, at the time, Fisher's was probably one of the least expensive funeral homes in the area.''
Fisher said his funeral home and others charged the extra fee because that's what the contract embalmer they used at the time charged them.
Fisher said he is not bitter that the funeral home was singled out.
``I think Tidewater and the rest of the country needed to be educated,'' he said. ``But it's important to remember that it wasn't an isolated incident. It was the norm at the time in Virginia.''
Justice officials said Thursday that they thought funeral directors had ample time to become aware of the implications of the Act.
The ADA did not become effective until January 1992, a year and a half after passage.
But in the interim, the Justice Department developed regulations and sent out mailings to about 6 million organizations and businesses that could be affected by the new regulations, said John Wodatch, chief of the disability rights section of the Justice Department's civil rights division.
In Oct. 1991, the National Funeral Directors' Assocation issued guidelines to its members on the ADA's impact on funeral homes, Wodatch said.
Justice investigators first contacted Fisher Funeral Home in November 1993, at which time the business voluntarily changed its price structure, officials said.
No other local funeral homes were investigated.
Locally, the situation apparently has improved.
``I don't think that's happening in Tidewater much any more,'' said Mark Dickerson, administrator of Maxim Health Care Services of Virginia Beach, which provides home care and case management for AIDS patients. ``Health professionals here have done a very good job of education on HIV and other infectious diseases.''
For several years, the National Funeral Directors Association has advised its members that the ADA prohibits funeral directors from charging more for handling an AIDS-related death.
The Portsmouth case began in May 1993, when Robin Watkis called Fisher Funeral Home.
Her brother, a former Navy man, was dying of AIDS-related complications in the Veterans Administration hospital in Hampton.
Watkis, the oldest of six siblings, handled the funeral arrangements for her parents, who still live in Portsmouth.
``I contacted Fisher's shortly before my brother's death,'' said Watkis, 38, who is married and lives in St. Louis. Her brother's name is not being published at the family's request. ``I spoke with a woman who ran the business affairs. She wanted information . . . including what he was ill of. I told them AIDS.
``They informed me that because my brother was infectious, there would be an additional levy or tax,'' Watkis recalled. ``They said that when they handled the body, they needed to be dressed from head to toe . . . they had to buy the protective kit.''
For that reason, they charged families an additional $300 to embalm victims of infectious diseases, Watkis said she was told.
At that time, Fisher Funeral Home charged $140 to embalm ``normal remains,'' $190 for ``autopsy remains,'' and $440 for ``infectious disease remains,'' according to the settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and the funeral home. A local funeral home director, who asked not to be identified, said that the price range was normal, perhaps even lower than average, at the time.
``I thought the price was unfair,'' Watkis said. ``I was being charged extra . . . because I was being truthful.''
Yet when Watkis called another funeral home, she was quoted a similar price, she said.
``So there was no option,'' she said. ``We paid. That $300 was expensive for my parents. You're so vulnerable at that time - you're struck with grief.''
A few days later, Watkis' brother died.
The family arranged the funeral with Fisher Funeral Home, and the brother was buried on May 6, 1993.
Jeffrey Fisher said he received a good AIDS education at that funeral when a family member got up and spoke about the disease.
``It was the first time anyone openly discussed the cause of death at a funeral other than cancer,'' he said.
About a month after the funeral, Watkis's husband told her he thought the price difference was against the law. She then contacted Justice investigators.
``This wasn't about money,'' Watkis said Thursday. ``This was about my brother and my family being treated equally and with dignity.''
One local funeral home director said the cost of all embalmings has increased by $150 to $200 because of precautions to avoid the spread of AIDS and other infectious diseases.
``You have to make sure there are no viruses,'' he said. ``One little microbe can destroy an entire city.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ABOUT THE CASE: The U.S. Department of Justice ordered Thursday that
Fisher Funeral Home, above, refund $300 each to nine families, whom
it charged for embalming victims of AIDS. The settlement by the
Justice Department is the first under the Americans With
Disabilities Act involving AIDS discrimination. by CNB