CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED THE MORNING OF JULY 10, 2009 BY FAMILIES OF DECEASED DISINTERRED IN CEMETERY SCANDAL

A class action lawsuit was filed on July 10, 2009, against Burr Oak Cemetery on behalf of families of individuals interred at the cemetery.  The lawsuit is based on an alleged scheme of removing the deceased from the grave sites, damaging and destroying the remains, and desecrating the grave sites for profit.  The complaint, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, requests injunctive relief to require the cemetery and other defendants to maintain records, promptly notify relatives, and restore the remains.  Counsel for plaintiff, Deidre Baumann, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to ensure immediate action is taken.  "The hearing for the restraining order is scheduled to be heard Tuesday, July 14, 2009, in the Circuit Court of Cook County," according to Blake Horwitz, also attorney for the Plaintiffs.  The Plaintiffs are requesting the Court to appoint a receiver to monitor the situation.  The lawsuit also includes a count for intentional infliction of emotional distress.  The bereaved families are suing the four employees charged with felonies, in addition to the cemetery, the corporate entities and company president. 

Burr Oak Cemetery is Chicago’s first African-American cemetery and the resting place of civil rights icon Emmit Till and jazz musician Dinah Washington.  Many Chicago area families have laid their loved ones to rest here for generations because of the cemetery’s significant historical role for the local African-American community.

The number of disturbed graves has been estimated to be between 200 and 300.  Droves of concerned family members have descended upon the cemetery, armed with obituaries and death certificates, in hopes of finding their relatives’ grave sites undisturbed.  The employees have been charged with the Class X felony of dismembering a human body, a charge that carries hefty prison sentences and monetary fines of up to $25,000.