BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Families of loved ones buried at St. Matthew’s Cemetery in the Garden of Good Shepherd are now speaking to a lawyer to file a class action lawsuit.
On Thursday, they gathered at Back to Basics Outreach Ministry, passing around and filling out cemetery complaint forms from the State Division of Cemeteries.
The feeling of having to bury a loved all over again is one of the reasons why families are looking to take legal action against St. Matthew's Cemetery.
The cemetery moved caskets of their loved ones without telling them.
After a portion of the bank along Cayuga Creek collapsed earlier this month, the cemetery tried to save the bank but couldn't.
They said they needed to act quickly and move the 220 buried caskets in the Garden of Good Shepherd to another location in the cemetery.
Attorney at law Jacob Piorkowski was in the room providing advice and counsel.
"I feel that the main complaint is that people didn't have transparency, didn't have notice," he said.
Founder of No More Tears, Tina Sanders, said she asked Piorkowski to come on behalf of the families and provide advice.
"It's not fair to families to have to see it live on Facebook or whatever," said Sanders. "It's just like, you knew that you were doing this two, three weeks ago, what would it hurt to make a phone call?"
Piorkowski said he is not representing anyone at this time. He and Sanders are asking families to fill out complaint forms so Sanders can mail them to the State Division of Cemeteries in Albany no later than Tuesday morning.
