The Flint water crisis has received national attention for over a year now via social media and standardized media outlets. People have created memes to raise awareness, staged protests and even celebrities have voiced their opinions and donated money. The people of Flint however, are not waiting for the rest of the country to speak on their behalf. Instead, they are fighting back against the individuals and institutions that they believe were behind the city’s water crisis.
A class action lawsuit brought by the people of Flint against the state of Michigan and a number of state officials was allowed to continue last month by Judge Boonstra. However, that was not the only lawsuit in the works. According to a number of sources, there are more than 450 lawsuits pending over the Flint water debacle. The class action lawsuit against Lockwood, Andrews, & Newnam (LAN) has apparently been sent back to state court by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Lockwood, Andrews and Newman are an engineering company with offices all over the country, including Lansing and Flint. They were hired to work on the Flint water treatment plant during the three year period when the city of Flint was scheduled to switch its primary drinking water provider from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water, to Karegnondi Water Authority, which sources its water from the Flint River.
The Federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court ruling which stated that class action law suits connected to the Flint water crisis must be decided in the state courts. The ruling handed down by the Federal appellate court was based on the fact that that the suit met elements of a “local controversy” under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
The Flint Water Crisis is considered a “local controversy”
For this reason, the federal judges determined that only a Michigan court should be required to handle the cases. In their opinion they wrote, “Though the Flint Water Crisis captured the attention of the nation, its infamy does not make it any less local. Because plaintiffs’ suit consists of a proposed class of more than two-thirds Michigan citizens, a significant local defendant, and injuries limited to the reach of Flint’s water system, it satisfies the statutory requirements of the local controversy exception. We therefore affirm the [federal] district court’s decision to remand this case to state court.”
There was however, one judge who disagreed with this ruling. According to the dissenting judge, the plaintiffs were not able to meet the burden of proof which would show that the federal courts should not exercise jurisdiction in this case.
As of now, the lawsuits over Flint’s water crisis fall into three categories. There are civil cases against government agencies, civil cases against engineering firms, and lawsuits filed by the state against engineering firms. Criminal cases, which are very different in nature, are handled separately, as they involve law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office.
The trial attorneys at The Kronzek Firm do not handle class action litigation. As such, we are not involved in any way in the Flint water crisis lawsuits. We do, on the hand, provide exceptional legal representation to people accused of crimes in Michigan. If you or a loved one have been accused of a crime, whether it is murder, armed robbery, drug-related or a sex crime, we are here to help. Call our crisis intervention attorney 24/7 at 1 866-766-5245