San Mateo County Coroner Sued Again Over Mishandling Remains
Jerald and Sandy Wolkoff attended a deposition for the wrongful death of their 30 year old son Steven Wolkoff. They were shocked to learn that the office of Robert Foucrault, the San Mateo County Coroner, had retained parts of their son's brain. The Wolkoffs were not informed by the Coroner's office that parts of Steven Wolkoff's brain had been retained at the time he was released to their custody for burial. After having buried their son Steven, to learn about the mishandling of their son's remains was devastating and in violation of their faith. Moreover, the Coroner's office had released Steven Wolkoff's brain to the Defendant's third party lab and allowed it to be desecrated, cut into 20 pieces, all without the consent or permission of the Wolkoffs.
The Wolkoffs then discovered this was not the first time the San Mateo County Coroner had acted with such disregard for the deceased and the surviving next of kin. In 2006, San Mateo County resident Selina Picon learned that the Coroner had returned her son's body for burial without his heart. She was outraged. Her lawsuit prompted the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution recommending the Coroner put in place a policy of informing the next of kin when body parts of the deceased are retained. That policy was carelessly disregarded in the Wolkoffs' case.
The Wolkoffs are suing the San Mateo County Coroner's Office and San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault to prevent this trauma from happening to other grieving parents. The overpowering issue is that families of all faiths would desire their loved one's remains be treated with dignity and not indifference. Sandy Wolkoff said, "This is a very big issue for me, maybe because there are so few chances left for me to fight for my son. I can't have him back, but I want all of him. I, as his mother, felt dismissed by the people involved in his death. They also seem to have forgotten that they have a moral and legal mandate to be respectful of him, and us, after his death."
Jerald Wolkoff said, "Despite the allegations of the SMC Coroner as to their change in protocol after the Picon Case, NO ONE from the SMC Coroner's Office ever notified me or Sandy, post autopsy, that they were returning Steven's body to us without the various human remains that they kept. Furthermore, no one from the SMC Coroner's office ever informed us, or sought our permission to have the Defendant in the wrongful death suit, dissect new slides of Steven's brain, over 2 years after his cause of death was determined by their Office."
The San Mateo County Coroner moved the court to dismiss the Wolkoffs' Complaint. The motion was heard on February 23, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. in the San Mateo County Superior Court. The case is Wolkoff vs. County of San Mateo Coroner's Office et. al, Case No. CIV503483. The Wolkoffs are represented by longtime Oakland Plaintiffs' lawyers J. Gary Gwilliam and Steven J. Brewer. For questions please contact: J. Gary Gwilliam, Steven J. Brewer or Jayme Burns at 510-832-5411. The judge tentatively dismissed claims of negligence against Coroner but plaintiffs were given ten days to file an amended complaint.
