Residents of Flint, MI have filed a class action lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Genesee County following recent revelations that the Flint municipal water system has been contaminated by high levels of lead since April 2014. These plaintiffs are not being represented by our law firm.
This complaint (full text here), filed on January 6 by multiple plaintiffs against Governor Rick Snyder, the State of Michigan, the City of Flint, and individual city officials, accuses the defendants on four (4) counts of failing to provide safe and drinkable water to 31,000 household residents who paid to have water services delivered to them. These four counts are:
- Breach of Contract: The lawsuit alleges that the State of Michigan, its Governor, and the City of Flint as an agent for the State breached its contractual obligation to supply the plaintiffs with drinkable water;
- Unjust Enrichment: The plaintiffs, having received the benefits of monies paid by the plaintiffs, have used these funds for the daily operations of the City of Flint without providing drinkable water as promised;
- Breach of Implied Warranty: The City of Flint, after impliedly promising the fitness of the water for consumption, subsequently admitted supplying poisonous water that was not fit for its intended use; and
- Violation of Consumer Protection Act: Before its admittance that it was responsible for poisoning the water, the State knowingly made false statements saying that the water was suitable as drinking water; “The State and/or the Governor and/or the City of Flint filed false, and/or caused to be published false, reports regarding the contaminated water, all in violation of MCL [Michigan Consumer Protection Act] 445.903(1).1
The plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and the 31,000 resident households who paid for drinking water, are asking the court to certify the class action lawsuit, declare a breach of contract by the defendants, confirm that the defendants violated the Consumer Protection Act, and to award damages, attorney fees, and legal costs.
Not only has Flint’s current water crisis prompted the filing of this class action lawsuit, but it has also raised awareness of a significant increase in Legionnaires’ disease cases that may be associated with the corrosion of the city’s water distribution pipes.
10 Flint residents have died and at least 45 others have been made ill by Legionnaires’ disease since the city changed its water source in April 2014.
Our law firm is not taking these cases.
Source:
1) Collins v. Snyder. No. 14-103476-CZ. State of Michigan in the Circuit Court for the County of Genesee. 6 January 2016.