Damages in Flint, Michigan
Two class-action lawsuits have been filed by Flint, Michigan residents against state officials and the governor for the Legionella outbreak and lead poisoning.
The local and state suits are claiming damages related to personal injury and physical damage suffered by Flint residents. The lawsuits list the defendants as: Governor Rick Snyder, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the state Department of Environmental Quality and a group of governmental officials. A federal lawsuit has also been filed.
One of the lawsuits is requesting Flint water customers not be required to pay past or future bills for impotable water. Flint residents were told to no longer drink their water in October, but are still required to pay for water and is shutting off water for residents who fail to pay. Property owners in Flint are also arguing the state impaired property values through its actions.
Co-counsel for the plaintiffs Michael Pitt said “Tens of thousands of Flint residents were unnecessarily injured and hundreds of millions of property damage resulted due to the deliberate indifference of a handful of state, city and county officials” adding that
Damages are also relevant to the personal injury claims related to the Department of Health and Human Services failing to release information about the lead poisoning for 10 months. Attorney Cary McGehee said lawyers have set up a call center and 500 individuals have registered to be a part of the class action suit. The attorney said they are currently collecting data and medial records.
The spike in cases of Legionnaires’ disease lead to 10 deaths, which will surely be another important piece of the total damages picture.
The governor declared a state of emergency in the county and President Barak Obama signed an emergency declaration allowing federal aid to address Flint’s water crisis.
Relevant reading:
Read more detailed coverage of the lawsuits in this Detroit News feature article.
Learn about how damages are calculated in personal injury and wrongful death suits from Dr. Dwight Steward, economic expert.
