State Board of Funeral Directors v. Bennett

41 Pa. D. & C.2d 502, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 218
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County
DecidedNovember 7, 1966
Docketno. 541 of 1965
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 41 Pa. D. & C.2d 502 (State Board of Funeral Directors v. Bennett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Board of Funeral Directors v. Bennett, 41 Pa. D. & C.2d 502, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 218 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1966).

Opinion

Herman, J.,

This is an appeal from a decision of the State Board of Funeral Directors, made after notice and a formal hearing, suspending for a period of one year the license of appellant, Paul L. Bennett, to practice' funeral directing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The board’s order, entered August 18, 1965, was based upon independent findings of fact and conclusions of law which adjudged appellant to be guilty of violating section 7 of the Act of January 14, 1951, P. L. (1952) 1898, 63 PS §479.7, in that he conducted funerals at places other than that where he was authorized to do so by the State Board of Funeral Directors, without the consent and approval of the Lacy Funeral Home, wherein he was the registered supervisor.

Section 7 of the Funeral Director Law supra, provides, inter alia:

“A license shall authorize the conduct of the profession at the particular place of practice so designated and no other, and only by the particular person designated”.1

Appellant appeared before the board on May 6, 1959, and was registered, pursuant to section 8 of the Funeral Director Law, as supervisor for Mrs. Beatrice M. Lacy, the widow of a deceased licensee. Consequently, sections 7 and 8 must be examined in conjunction with one another in order to determine the nature and extent of the activities and conduct which were authorized by the license granted to appellant. [504]*504Section 8 of the Funeral Director Law provides, inter alia:

“The practice carried on by a licensee’s estate or widow shall be under the supervision of a licensed funeral director employed on a full time basis, who shall not conduct any other funeral business in his own name nor be directly or indirectly connected with any other funeral establishment”.

That appellant, as the registered supervisor of the Lacy Funeral Home, was authorized to conduct the profession from said home, the place designated on his license, and no other, is clear and unequivocal upon a reading of the above-quoted portions of the act. Furthermore, the board, in accordance with section 16 of the Funeral Director Law, enacted section 12.6 of the regulations, which provides, in part:

“No activity in connection with funeral directing shall be performed by such funeral director unless it is on behalf of the practice of the widow or estate for which such person has accepted the function of supervisor”.

This regulation is clearly in furtherance of the legislative mandate that no supervisor be directly or indirectly connected with any other funeral establishment. Consequently, if appellant conducted funerals from any establishment other than the Lacy Funeral Home, or carried on any activity that was not on behalf of that establishment, he was guilty of violating the act.

Appellant’s first contention is that the record is lacking in any substantial evidence that would sustain the board’s findings of fact, conclusions of law and order. We do not agree. The record amply supports the findings, and the conclusions of law based on such findings are proper. Actually, appellant himself admits that he conducted certain specific funerals at establishments other than the Lacy Funeral Home [505]*505while he was the registered supervisor there. The real essence of appellant’s position is that he was authorized by the board to conduct funerals on his own time when his services were not required at the Lacy Funeral Home.2 Mrs. Lacy’s testimony was also to the effect that, according to her understanding and interpretation of the board’s ruling at the time appellant became her registered supervisor, Mr. Bennett was permitted to conduct and operate his own activities, providing they did not interfere with the business of the Lacy Funeral Home, and that he was always available when his services were required there. On the other hand, the Secretary of the Board of State Funeral Directors testified that while the board was aware that the Lacy Funeral Home’s business was insufficient to demand all of Mr. Bennett’s time, he was not permitted to conduct the profession on his own, and other services or activities he performed would have to be contracted through the Lacy Funeral Home. Any other ruling by the board would have been clearly contrary to the legislative direction that the conduct of the profession must be from the place designated on the license, and the registered supervisor of a widow of a deceased licensee must be employed on a full time [506]*506basis. Further, regulation 12.6, supra, proscribes any activities by such supervisor unless on behalf of the practice of the widow or estate and, while appellant could perform certain professional activities short of conducting funerals on his own, his services had to be contracted through the Lacy Funeral Plome. The record clearly contains substantial evidence on which the board could find appellant in violation of the act.

Appellant contends that the board improperly concluded that the legislative intent was to prohibit the conduct of the profession from any place other than that noted on the license; he maintains that the legislature merely intended to preclude a funeral director from operating more than one place of business. We cannot agree with this strained interpretation which appellant places upon the language of section 7. The plain meaning of the statutory language convinces us that the position of appellant is untenable. The statute provides that “A license shall authorize the conduct of the profession at the particular place of practice so designated and no other”. The phrase “conduct of the profession” encompasses all activities related to funeral directing, and is not merely a prohibition against operating branch establishments.

Appellant next contends that his right to practice his profession was unduly restricted by the board under the guise of protecting the public health. He contends that the board’s interpretation of the act of 1951, the Funeral Director Law, and of regulation 12.6 of the board constitute an improper exercise of the police power in that they bear no reasonable relationship to the harm to be prevented and, consequently, are violative of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and article I, section 9 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The law regarding the limits upon a State’s exer[507]*507cise of its police power is clear, but application of that law to particular legislation may often present a difficult task (Gambone v. Commonwealth, 375 Pa. 547, 550-52 (1954)):

“Probably the most important function of government is the exercise of the police power for the purpose of preserving the public health, safety and morals, and it is true that, to accomplish that purpose, the legislature may limit the enjoyment of personal liberty and property. It is also true, as stated in Commonwealth v. Zasloff, 338 Pa. 457, 460, 13 A. 2d 67, 6.9, that the police power has been juridically extended to many fields of social and economic welfare. But, as likewise there stated, the power is not unrestricted; its exercise, like that of all other governmental powers, is subject to constitutional limitations and judicial review.

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Related

Parise v. Commonwealth
415 A.2d 153 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
41 Pa. D. & C.2d 502, 1966 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-board-of-funeral-directors-v-bennett-pactcompldauphi-1966.