Federal civil-rights officials say a Memphis funeral home crossed a hard line when managers allegedly locked Black workers out of a preferred upstairs break room and then went after the supervisor who refused to keep quiet about it. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a federal lawsuit in Tennessee targeting the Forest Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park location in east Memphis, seeking damages and a court order to shut down what it calls discriminatory and retaliatory practices.
Federal Agency Takes Cemetery Operator to Court
In a Feb. 12 press release, the EEOC said it sued StoneMor, Inc. in U.S. District Court (EEOC v. StoneMor, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-02122). The agency alleges managers “restricted all black employees from a breakroom while allowing access to white employees” and then tried to keep complaints from leaving the building. According to the suit, managers pressured a burial supervisor to stop workers from contacting regulators and later suspended and fired him after he refused.
What Workers Say Happened Behind the Locked Door
Court filings obtained and summarized by Bloomberg Law trace the conflict back to May 2022, when managers allegedly put a new lock on the door to an upper-floor restroom and break room, effectively cutting off the grounds crew. The complaint says Black groundskeepers were rerouted to a first-floor, single-occupancy restroom and, for a period, told to use a nearby gas-station bathroom while the “preferred” facilities upstairs remained available to white employees.
The lawsuit names three Black grounds crew members, including supervisor Demarcus Benson. According to the complaint, Benson was suspended on May 20, 2022, and fired five days later, after he allegedly refused to dissuade a worker from reaching out to the EEOC.
Local Oversight Questions Bubble Up
The controversy is not just about workplace conditions. Local reporting has raised eyebrows over who is tied to whom. LocalMemphis reported on March 5 that a man attempting to sell four cemeteries to StoneMor also sits on a board that could influence penalties in the case, a connection that has triggered fresh concerns about oversight and conflicts of interest as the federal lawsuit moves forward.
What the EEOC Is Asking the Court to Do
The EEOC argues the alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The agency is seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and an injunction to prevent future discrimination, according to the EEOC. The suit asks for a jury trial to determine damages for the named workers and any others who might be similarly affected. The agency’s Memphis District Office is handling the case.
The defendants will be required to respond in federal court, and the EEOC is asking for a jury trial and monetary damages. Everstory Partners, which does business with StoneMor at some properties, did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Atlanta Black Star reported…