Anglican Watch has filed a complaint with Park Lawn Corporation, the current owner of Williamson Memorial Funeral Home and Cremation Services, located in Franklin, TN, over the conduct of previous funeral home owner Pam Stephens in the matter of Grant Solomon. We sent the complaint to corporate CFO Daniel Millett via his email, dmillett@plcorp.com; a copy is posted below.
Stephens sold the business to Park Lawn on September 1, 2021, and now is a Park Lawnemployee.
The complaint stems from Stephens’ behavior in the run-up to Grant Solomon’s funeral, as well as her recent conduct, which follows Park Lawn’s purchase of the business and appears to violate written corporate ethics policies.
Grant’s funeral was held on July 24 and July 25, 2020, following his suspicious death while alone with his father, Aaron Solomon, in Gallatin, TN.
Points raised in our complaint:
- Prior to the funeral, family members allege that Stephens ignored the wishes of Angie Solomon, Grant’s mother, and his custodial parent.
- The allegations, previously covered, that the funeral home broke Grant’s ankles.
- Allegations of inappropriate conduct by Stephens, including purportedly joining Aaron in a defamation lawsuit against Angie by filing an affidavit. That begs the issue: What kind of funeral home director engages in litigation between her clients? Answer: Not someone we would trust.
- The purported destruction of Grant’s clothing, which he was wearing at the time of his fatal incident. Stephens also allegedly lied to Angie about the claims. That begs the issue: In light of the controversy in the case, why would any rational actor destroy potential evidence? If nothing else, if Grant’s clothing had DNA on it from third parties, that would immediately raise red flags. Moreover, all Tennessee residents are mandated reporters, and there is no evidence that Stephens reported any issues involving Grant’s strange death. Moreover, we’re confident Stephens knows a dragging death when she sees it, and Grant did not die by being dragged by his pickup truck. Full stop. And if Stephens doesn’t know a dragging death when she sees it, she is in the wrong line of work, despite decades in the business.
- Stephens’ violation of Park Lawn ethics policies, which require that the corporation respond to media inquiries or legal issues, and that employees avoid conflicts of interest. Specifically, Anglican Watch has reason to believe that Stephens continues to act as though she owns the funeral home, responding to media inquiries and threatening to sue Anglican Watch and others for reporting on the allegations about her conduct. We are pretty sure that Park Lawn corporate officials don’t know that Stephens is engaging in this behavior.
We also note that Aaron Solomon has already lost his defamation lawsuit. Stephens should be careful, or she and Park Lawn may find themselves on the receiving end of their own defamation lawsuit.
Try us.
As for the one issue addressed by the Tennessee Funeral Directors, Embalmers & Burial Services board, which is the destruction of Grant’s belongings, we note that Stephens is the current chair of that agency. Thus, the slap on the wrist against Stephens is inherently suspicious.
Moreover, Stephens has been a licensed funeral director in Tennessee since 1991.
Thus, we are left wondering how Stephens didn’t pick up on the bit about ensuring that the decedent’s belongings belong to their family.
Hmmm, strange.
Bottom line, Stephens no longer owns the funeral home, and she needs to stop acting in a manner that creates a conflict of interest with her employer, Park Lawn, which is a publicly traded company. That includes going rogue with her media relations activities and statements involving legal issues, as these create Sarbanes-Oxley and other serious governance issues.
Somehow, we doubt that Park Lawn shareholders appreciate Stephens’ freelancing.
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