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Home > News > News Archive 2009 > EMH Obtains Class Certification Denial in Antitrust Funeral Home Litigation HOUSTON (April 1, 2009) — United States District Court Judge Kenneth Hoyt has adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendations to deny class certification in two highly publicized class action antitrust lawsuits targeting the funeral industry. Andrew Edison of Edison, McDowell & Hetherington and J. Clifford Gunter III of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP successfully represented Service Corporation International, the world's largest funeral and cemetery company, in the two antitrust cases. For an article about the case, see here.
The cases began in 2005 when a consumer advocacy group sued the country's three largest funeral home chains and a leading casket maker, charging that the defendants conspired to keep casket prices high and shut out casket discounters in violation of federal antitrust laws. The two purported class action lawsuits, which were originally filed in federal court in San Francisco, California, and then later transferred to the Southern District of Texas, were brought on behalf of casket consumers and independent casket retailers across the United States. Plaintiffs were seeking more than $1 billion in damages. The cases are expected to be appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
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