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World’s Largest Funeral Chain To Pay About $100 Million to Jewish Families

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida December 5, 2003 – Hours before jury selection was to begin in the case of Colonel Hyman Cohen, Houston based funeral chain Service Corporation International (SCI) agreed to pay about $100 million to Jewish families whose loved ones’ remains were desecrated and misplaced at two of its cemeteries in South Florida.

Allegations of wrongdoings surfaced on December 19, 2001 when a class-action lawsuit was filed by relatives who accused the world’s largest funeral operator of desecrating Jewish cemetery sites, misplacing bodies, overselling plots and removing bodies from their burial sites at two of its Broward and Palm Beach Menorah Gardens Cemeteries.

SCI denied such claims, but employees admitted to being instructed to move headstones and dig up burial vaults and caskets to make room for other bodies. On April 17, 2002, a twenty-member search team, which included Palm Beach County’s medical examiner, arrived at Menorah Gardens & Funeral Chapels with a search warrant and a backhoe to investigate the allegations. After two days of digging, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agents found human bones from five different bodies in a wooded area near the Menorah Gardens cemetery in West Palm Beach, Florida. One of those bodies was identified as Colonel Hyman Cohen, a decorated war veteran, who chose to be buried in Menorah Gardens, rather than Arlington Cemetery, for religious reasons. It was then that family members learned that the burial site they often visited did not contain Cohen’s body; it contained the body of someone else’s loved one. “Jewish law is very specific as to how death is handled”, said Plaintiff’s attorney Ervin A. Gonzalez. “The members of the class-action chose to have their family members buried in a Jewish cemetery to ensure that the law is followed. This settlement is the first step in righting a wrong in the cases where bodies were desecrated, and guaranteeing those individuals who have purchased burial plots that Jewish law will be followed in the future ”.

 The settlement includes about 750 class members and will outline a process for deciding damages for individual cases, such as Colonel Cohen’s. In addition to the $100 million settlement, SCI will spend millions of dollars fixing existing problems, reorganizing its cemeteries and ensuring that all graves are marked properly. “I’m glad the legal system worked to provide justice for these families. Without it, Colonel Cohen’s bones would probably still be scattered in the woods and hundreds of families would be paying their respects at the wrong grave.” said Gonzalez. “The message should be loud and clear .You can’t hurt consumers and expect to get away with it.”

Ervin A. Gonzalez was co-lead counsel on the case.  He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and Business Litigation by the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy.  Mr. Gonzalez is an appointed member of the National Board of Trustees of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He is currently on the Board of Governors for The Florida Bar and is past President of The Dade County Bar Association. Mr. Gonzalez has also served as President of the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association and is an adjunct professor at The University of Miami School of Law. His areas of expertise include catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability, aviation accidents, trucking accidents, commercial litigation and class action litigation.