Lawsuit: Jefferson parish officials violated pump policy

[slaveplanet]

GRETNA, La. Jefferson Parish residents are suing Parish President Aaron Broussard and the parish, claiming their east bank homes flooded after drainage pump operators were sent out of town before Hurricane Katrina hit.
The suit claims that Broussard and the parish "owed a duty to operate the drainage pumps" and "breached that duty by failing to man and operate" them.


The suit has been filed in state count in Gretna.

The plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status, want unspecified damages and want the case to be decided by a jury. The lawsuit is assigned to Judge Henry Sullivan.

Only two plaintiffs are named -- Zoe Aldigé, of Metairie, and Chicago Properties Interests, a Metairie company.

Parish officials have said that 200 pump operators were evacuated to Washington Parish on August 28th, the day before the storm, and returned the following day at 7 p-m. Broussard has said that leaving the operators at their stations during a Category Four or Five hurricane amounts to a "death sentence."

more-http://www.klfy.com/global/story.asp?s=3992923&ClientType=Printable

[pitohui]

1. there's mucho bad feeling abt this

some pump operators have told the local paper they were willing to stay

i think most ppl want to sue as individuals, not as a class, they have homes to replace & can't settle for $13.85 each 10 yrs in the future

the reality of jeff parish politics is such that i would not necessarily expect ms. zoe to have a v. long life expectancy if she pursues this but good luck to her, ok, that was a mean thing to say, they won't kill her, they'll just drop a bag of cocaine on her, then they'll shoot her 10 times in the face

yes, can you tell i used to live in jefferson parish

[slaveplanet]

2. Is there a possibility

those pumps were set on automatic?

some other poster told me they had that ability... plus an automatic overflow protection shut-off.

But if that's the case ..why is Broussard being mum on that point

[...of J.Temperance]

3. I bet the people who filed the lawsuit are Republicans

When is the Government of Louisiana going to file a lawsuit against FEMA? When is Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department going to file a lawsuit against FEMA? Because if ANYBODY has a case for a lawsuit, it's those two.

The Republican's are behind this pump lawsuit, they want Broussard out and at the next election to have this Patrick Bossata freak in, or however you spell his surname. Also, they've hated Broussard for years and have been just waiting, he used to be a Republican and in 2002 he endorsed Senator Landrieu over shit-fer-brains Suzie Terrell and then he switched to the Democratic Party.

[Feron]

4. I can understand why people are upset

Homes that had never flooded before did and some lost everything they owned. Residents learn that the New Orleans pump operators stayed behind to man the pumps and wonder why the same wasn't done in Jefferson Parish.

Hell if I were in their shoes I would be angry too.

[Kailassa]

5. Well I can understand that.

Of course it would have been better to risk the lives of 200 workers than to risk peoples' homes being flooded.

If your son and daughter were working there I'm sure you would want them to keep at the pumps, in buildings that were not expected to stay standing in a cat 4 hurricane, just to protect your house, wouldn't you?