Drawn-out lawsuit over desecrated graves near settlement
By Associated Press
Published October 27, 2004
FORT LAUDERDALE - A judge said he would approve a $100-million settlement against two Menorah Gardens cemeteries accused of desecrating graves and mishandling burials.
Circuit Judge J. Leonard Fleet told lawyers he is ready to sign off on the agreement, a deal largely reached in December.
The cemeteries in Broward and Palm Beach counties, owned by the world's largest funeral services company, had been accused of burying people in the wrong places, breaking open vaults to squeeze in other remains and, in some instances, tossing bones into the woods.
"This is the beginning of the end with respect to the litigation," said Ervin Gonzalez, one of the attorneys who spearheaded the class action suit.
The judge's announcement came after attorneys pursuing dozens of separate claims against the cemeteries in Palm Beach County reached an undisclosed settlement with 72 families last week.
Ted Leopold, an attorney for the Palm Beach County plaintiffs, said the terms of the settlement reached Friday are confidential, but he's "extremely happy" with the deal.
"We have come to a settlement in this civil matter which we believe will help these families move forward and bring closure to this horrendous situation," Leopold said.
Don Mathis, spokesman for Houston-based Service Corp. International, which owns the cemeteries, said that with the class action settlement and the resolution of the Palm Beach County cases, there are no other pending allegations of improper burials.
"We're glad to be getting this behind us," he said.
Hundreds of families could receive shares of the $100-million settlement because their loved ones' graves may have been disturbed.
