Gardendale Funeral Home Lawsuit: Wrongful Death and Defamation Claims

The Gardendale funeral home lawsuit was filed in late September 2022 by Steven Nix in Jefferson Circuit Court, Alabama, against Gardendale Heritage Funeral Home, New Gardendale Funeral Home, and his sister-in-law Brittany Noojin. Nix alleges the funeral home allowed Noojin to take unauthorized photographs of his deceased wife Breana’s body and that Noojin later published those images online as part of a campaign accusing him of murdering her.¹

What the Lawsuit Claims the Funeral Home Did

The complaint alleges that Gardendale Heritage Funeral Home and New Gardendale Funeral Home conspired with Brittany Noojin and permitted her to photograph Breana Noojin Nix’s body without Steven Nix’s authorization. According to the suit, the family “purposely hid the fact that Noojin had pictures of the body to cause injury and embarrass Steven,” and the photographs surfaced online in 2022.¹

Available reporting did not clarify the relationship between the two funeral home entities named in the case; both were listed as separate defendants. The funeral homes did not respond to requests for comment when the suit was filed.¹

The legal theory is somewhat unusual. In most reported unauthorized-photo cases against funeral homes, the allegation is that an employee took the picture. Here, the claim is that the funeral home let a family member do so over the widower’s objection, and that this amounted to a conspiracy against him. Whether Alabama courts treat that as actionable negligence or invasion of privacy has not been resolved in available reporting on the case.

The Defamation and Online Campaign Claims

The suit’s claims against Brittany Noojin go well beyond the photographs. Steven Nix alleges that starting in 2021, Noojin used online articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos to publicly accuse him of murdering Breana. A Facebook page called “Justice for Breana Noojin Nix,” which had more than 6,000 followers, served as a central hub for those claims. The complaint specifically alleges Noojin told followers that Steven killed Breana to cover up a previous, separate murder he had committed.¹

The causes of action include defamation, invasion of privacy, and false light. Nix alleges the conduct “emotionally scarred” him, interfered with his ability to mourn, and drew unwanted phone calls, mailings, and online messages. He says he asked Noojin to retract her statements and she refused, and that he will continue to suffer “irreparable harm” without court intervention.¹

Noojin told reporters she was unaware of Steven’s lawsuit until the media contacted her.¹

The Death That Divided the Family

Breana Noojin Nix was 32, a nurse with 12 years of experience who worked in the surgical intensive care unit at Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham. She died on March 2, 2020, at her home in Blount County. Authorities ruled the death an accidental fentanyl overdose.¹

In early 2022, after an investigation by the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, a grand jury found that “no living being committed any offense that caused the death of Breana Noojin Nix.” Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said she met with the family for more than 10 hours and gave them access to the full case file and body camera footage. Sheriff Mark Moon said Casey had presented a “plethora of evidence” that the death was accidental.¹

Breana’s family rejected that conclusion. On the GoFundMe page they created, they pointed to more than 80 fresh injection sites, an 18-gauge needle, and unexplained bruising on Breana’s hands, torso, legs, and feet. Brittany Noojin said she and her mother searched Breana’s closet and drawers for funeral clothing the day after the death and found no drugs or needles; Steven Nix and his sister reportedly located the vials in those same areas a day later. The GoFundMe page also stated that the type of fentanyl vial found did not match those stocked by Princeton Baptist.²

The Competing Wrongful Death Suit

Steven Nix’s lawsuit is not the only civil case between these parties. Before he filed, Brittany Noojin brought a wrongful death action against him in Blount County, alleging that Steven “directly or indirectly caused the death of Breana.” As of September 2022, that case remained pending.¹ A court had separately removed Noojin as administrator of Breana’s estate by court order; the reasoning and timing were not detailed in available reporting.

How Alabama Has Treated Funeral Home Cases

Alabama juries have imposed heavy penalties on funeral homes in other contexts. In a Mobile County case, a jury awarded $12 million against Pine Crest Funeral Home, an affiliate of Service Corporation International, for losing a client’s mother’s cremated remains. The award included $2 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages, and the jury found the funeral home liable for wantonness, negligence, and breach of contract.¹

Unauthorized photography of the deceased has produced litigation elsewhere. In a 2019 Florida case, the family of Jakiel Jones sued Stevens Brothers Funeral Home in Belle Glade after an employee allegedly photographed the body on a mortuary slab and sent the image to non-family members, who posted it on social media. The family had asked for a closed-casket funeral because of the condition of the body after a car accident.³

The Nix suit takes a different route: rather than blaming staff for taking the picture, it says the funeral home allowed a relative to do so against the widower’s wishes and became part of a broader effort to injure him. Whether that theory survives will depend on how the Jefferson Circuit Court weighs the conspiracy and privacy claims against the defendants’ answers, which have not been reported in available records.