Tentative agreement reached in Jewish cemetery case

A tentative agreement was reached Wednesday between Congregation Ahavath Achim and a woman who sued the synagogue for allowing the burial of a non-Jewish woman in 2010 in the synagogue’s cemetery on Gillette Lane in Colchester.

Attorney Martin Rutchik, who is representing the plaintiff, Maria Balaban, said the settlement still has to be approved by the synagogue’s board of directors. The case will not be withdrawn until the settlement is approved.

Rutchik said the settlement is confidential; neither party would comment on it Wednesday.

“We hope there will be a healing between the synagogue and the Balabans,” Rutchik said.

Rutchik said Balaban has withdrawn any claims against the family of Juliet Steer, whose 2010 burial sparked the suit that went to trial last week. Claims to exhume Steer’s remains have also been withdrawn.

The trial featured two days of testimony last week in New London Superior Court. Last Thursday, Judge Robert A. Martin adjourned the case until Tuesday and urged congregation members to settle the issues on their own, outside of his courtroom.