A class-action lawsuit against public officials who oversaw the Flint water crisis is allowed to continue following a recent ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court.
In a 4-2 decision on Wednesday, the court ruled that the case against former Gov. Rick Snyder, former Flint city managers, and state environmental and health authorities could continue because the plaintiffs had “sufficiently alleged a claim” existed on behalf of Flint residents whose water supply was found to contain lead.
“Viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiffs and accepting their factual allegations as true, the pleadings established that defendants’ actions were a substantial cause of the decline in plaintiffs’ property value, that defendants took affirmative actions directed at plaintiffs’ property, and that plaintiffs suffered a unique or special injury,” the court wrote in its opinion.
The two justices who dissented from the majority argued that the class-action lawsuit was filed too late. They noted that state law requires that plaintiffs file lawsuits within the specified time frame.
“Plaintiffs filed their complaint on January 21, 2016, and thus the event giving rise to the cause of action must have happened on or after July 21, 2015, for plaintiffs’ action to have been filed in a timely manner. Because plaintiffs alleged in their complaint and in their amended complaint that the event giving rise to the cause of action was the switching of the water supply on April 25, 2014 … plaintiffs’ action was untimely,” they wrote.
At least 12 Flint residents died after the city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. City officials downplayed the consequences of the decision and told residents the water was safe to consume.
