Thousands of Flint residents could join 'billion-dollar' water crisis lawsuits

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Thousands of Flint residents could join 'billion-dollar' water crisis lawsuits

Lawyers working on three class action suits believe they have a legal strategy to
bypass ‘sovereign immunity’ that protects Michigan state officials from blame

Ryan Felton in Flint, Michigan
Wednesday 17 February 2016 14.08 GMT

Hundreds of Flint residents on Tuesday packed into a ballroom at the University of Michigan-Flint, hoping to receive answers from a legal team representing potentially thousands of plaintiffs in several lawsuits filed over the water crisis in Flint, where financial damages may exceed $1bn.

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The lawsuits take aim at government officials, the engineering firm hired to prepare Flint’s water plant, and a local hospital linked to a legionnaires’ outbreak. Nearly a dozen federal, state and local investigations are ongoing. An inquiry launched last month by the office of Michigan’s attorney general, Bill Schuette, could produce additional restitution for Flint residents, investigators say, if it is warranted.

“Every week we’re learning of new types of medical conditions that people have been diagnosed with, that have something or other to do with exposure to the neurotoxins in the water,” said attorney Julie Hurwitz, one of several members of the legal teams in three separate class action suits.

Hurwitz said it was too early to calculate potential financial damages for class members, but another attorney on the case told the Guardian in December it “could reach $1bn”. Hurwitz said more than 5,000 Flint water users have been contacted about the case.

Experts and plaintiffs’ attorneys have expressed hesitation over lawsuits filed against state departments and officials, saying the chance of success will be hindered by the legal doctrine of “sovereign immunity”, which means states cannot be held legally responsible except in special circumstances.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/17/thousands-flint-residents-could-join-billion-dollar-water-crisis-lawsuits

[bemildred]

1. Let's crowd fund them. nt

[Festivito]

2. The CONservatives once again to borrow, spend, and borrow more. Socialism for the rich.

Governor Republican Snyder serves two masters, the voters and the rich. Except it is a secret contract to borrow our vote. So he could never collect payment like this from them, they don't have to pay a dime, and taxpayers get to spend socialized money. And, as those lawsuits pile in, we, the taxpayers, get to pay more and more and more.