FARGO, N.D. (NewsDakota.com/KFGO) – A dispute over the handling of medical waste has led to a lawsuit about a health system breaking North Dakota law by delivering a human torso concealed in a plastic container for disposal.

Monarch Waste Technologies disposes of medical waste, such as infectious and biohazardous material for Sanford Health.

In a lawsuit filed in Cass County, Monarch Health alleges that Healthcare Environmental Services (HES), which is overseen by Sanford Health, engaged in what it called “surreptitious” activities designed to suggest that Monarch had mismanaged medical waste at a treatment facility.

The lawsuit said HES delivered a human torso concealed in a plastic container to Monarch, and that an HES employee signed delivery documents for the torso without Monarch’s knowledge.

Monarch CEO David Cardenas said dealing with human remains violates the company’s protocols and regulations. He said recognizable body parts as large as a torso go to crematoriums, “not through a shredder.”

“And especially when it’s done under cover of us not knowing. It’s just disturbing,” Cardenas said.

A Sanford Health spokesperson said the lawsuit was the result of Monarch’s “demonstrated inability to perform waste disposal services it had contractually agreed to perform.”

The spokesperson said the company denies the allegations and plans to file its own claims against Monarch.