Cazenovia funeral home director Brian Tait has had both his funeral directing license and the certificate of registration of the Tait Funeral Home revoked by the state department of health, and he must surrender both to the department in 60 days, a Department of Health spokesperson has verified.
“Mr. Brian Tait has agreed to surrender his funeral director’s license and the certificate of registration of the Tait Funeral Home within 60 days (Aug. 10, 2015) to the New York State Department of Health,” the spokesperson said.
The news of Tait’s license revocations came one day before he was scheduled to appear before an administrative hearing at the department of health regarding the suspension issue.
Tait was arrested by New York State Police in October 2011 and charged with seven misdemeanor counts for subjecting a number of his female employees to inappropriate physical exams. Tait accepted a plea bargain in July 2012, answering to one count of third-degree sexual abuse, a Class B misdemeanor, and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a Class A misdemeanor.
He was sentenced to three years of probation and was ordered to submit to unscheduled inspections of his residence and personal computer, abide by a curfew, pay restitution to one of the victims and undergo sex offender counseling. He was not required to register as a sex offender and was allowed to continue as a licensed funeral director.
Independent from the criminal case, the DOH has the authority to regulate funeral directing licenses and, in September 2013, Tait was informed that the department was investigating him. In July 2014, after negotiating with the DOH, Tait announced on his funeral home’s website that he had reached an agreement with the department in which his license to practice as a funeral home director would be suspended for six months. Under the agreement, no further administrative actions would be taken against him by the department.
In October 2014, the DOH filed notice that it had “opted to pursue” a complete revocation of Tait’s funeral director’s license and funeral home certification, after which Tait attempted to sue the DOH for going back on its previous deal to suspend his license.
Attorneys for Tait and the DOH argued the case in New York State Supreme Court in March. State Supreme Court Judge Hugh A. Gilbert ruled against Tait, finding that Tait and the DOH never had an agreed upon-deal over Tait’s license suspension. Gilbert’s decision left the field open for the department to pursue more severe administrative actions against the Cazenovia funeral home director, namely, to revoke his license altogether and decertify his funeral home.
Tait was scheduled to present at an administrative hearing at the department of health on June 11, but on June 10 the hearing was cancelled because Tait had agreed to surrender his license and funeral home certification, according to a DOH spokesperson.
Messages left for Tait and his attorney, Steven Ward Williams, had not been returned at press time.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
