Friday, November 06, 2020

Levy v. Only Cremations for Pets, Inc. (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 6, 2020)

This opinion by Justice Ikola certainly seems right.

You want your pet cremated in a "private" cremation -- that way, they're cremated separately, and you get their (and only their) ashes back, rather than being cremated with a ton of other animals and having their ashes scattered at sea.  It costs more, but you think it's worth it.

You tell your veterinarian to make it happen, and they contract with a crematorium.  The latter then does not do what they agreed to do -- instead, they (allegedly) give you ashes that aren't even those of your pet.  So you sue.

The trial court says you can't, since you didn't have a direct contract with the crematorium.  But Justice Ikola says that you may well be a third party beneficiary, which seems spot on.  And, yes, you can perhaps get emotional distress damages.  After all, the only reason you did this thing was to get "emotional peace" from the cremation, and that's what the defendant deprived you of.

That's all persuasive to me.