Class-action lawsuit filed against South Deering funeral home for mishandling 56 bodies
A Texas woman launched a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the South Deering funeral home that allegedly mishandled the remains of her father along with dozens of other bodies that were found in various states of unrefrigerated decomposition last week.
South Chicago Chapel took possession of Terrance Fallie’s body the day he died Aug. 4, according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court by his daughter, Dyanna Burt-Finnie.
That was four days after the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation first received “information about potential operational concerns” at the facility run by Clark and Johanna Morgan. Johanna Morgan’s state funeral director license was suspended Aug. 5 for allowing “decedents to be kept in an unrefrigerated area with deplorable conditions.”
Representatives for Burt-Finnie went to the chapel at 2939 E. 95th St. on Aug. 6 to take Fallie’s body to another funeral home, arriving as city, county and state authorities were removing 56 bodies that had been neglected, according to officials and the suit.
Burt-Finnie’s suit notes “neighbors had smelled an odor akin to a dead animal emanating from Defendant’s funeral home for approximately two months prior to the discovery.”
The grisly conditions were revealed a year after the state shut down a Chicago Heights crematory run by the Morgans, who are facing more than 20 lawsuits for allegedly mishandling the remains of about 100 people in that case.
An attorney representing the Morgans did not respond to requests for comment.
Clark Morgan lost his funeral director’s license for “unprofessional conduct” and working on an expired license in 2024, state records show.
Criminal charges haven’t been filed. Illinois State Police are still investigating the Chicago Heights situation while Chicago police sort through the latest ordeal. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office is still working to identify all the deceased as well as the cremated remains of at least 56 more people.
South Chicago Chapel “failed to properly affix identifying information to the bodies in its possession, including that of Mr. Fallie, despite knowing the same would be necessary in properly identifying the bodies,” the new suit claims.
The six-count suit alleges South Chicago Chapel interfered with families’ right to possess remains; inflicted emotional distress; violated state law on the disposition of remains; committed fraud; and misrepresented their business.
An initial hearing was scheduled for Oct. 13.