Lawyer: 9,000 Stake Claim in Fla. Cemetery

October 18, 2005

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- About 9,000 people have staked a claim to a $100 million settlement against two cemeteries accused of desecrating graves and mishandling burials, an attorney said.

Eligible claims will be submitted to the court, attorney Ervin Gonzalez told The Palm Beach Post for Tuesday editions.

The claimants will share about $40 million, the amount remaining after payments to lawyers, whistle-blowers and about a dozen families who sued separately. The claimants will receive a wide range of compensation based on their individual cases, lawyers said.

The Menorah Gardens 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. The allegations first surfaced in December 2001.

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