LEWISTON, Maine (AP) A Maine crematorium kept taking bodies it couldn’t care for because the owner needed the money, according to a lawsuit.

The Lewiston crematorium, Affordable Cremation Solution, was shut down and its funeral licenses were suspended in June by the state Board of Funeral Service, which said it found unrefrigerated bodies stacked in its basement, The Sun-Journal reported on Sunday.

The business engaged in conduct that was motivated by ill will or malice and plans to add punitive damages to the lawsuit, according to documents filed last week with the Maine Business and Consumer court in Portland.

A part-time funeral employee, Michael Bickford, said in a recent deposition that he had felt uncomfortable taking in bodies because the funeral home was not responsibly caring for them.

Bickford said that the owner, Kenneth Kincer, ignored his concerns about multiple families voicing their complaints and told him to continue taking in bodies because the business needed the money.

Haddow said Kincer has been “in the grip of depression and alcoholism” since his marriage fell apart in 2020. Kincer left his assistants to keep the business running, which violated Maine law, prohibiting a funeral home to run without its director.

The lawsuit said that Kincer’s hostility and contempt for the concerns of family members showed that his conduct was motivated by malice.

James Haddow, the attorney for the business, plans to challenge the effort to add punitive damage, the newspaper said.