New class action lawsuits have been filed in connection to the Flint water crisis. The lawsuits follow the discovery of high levels of lead contamination in the water supply from the Flint River.
The suits were filed against Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Former Flint Emergency Managers Darnell Earley and Jerry Ambrose, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Genesee County and other government officials.
In total, three class action lawsuits have been filed. The lawsuit filed with the Genesee County Circuit Court requests that water customers not be required to pay past or future bills for "useless and harmful water."
In the Court of Claims lawsuit, injured citizens are seeking to hold the State of Michigan accountable for the disaster. Residents want the state to be accountable for destruction of property values and to cover those property losses.
A class action lawsuit had already been filed in Federal Court.
"Tens of thousands of Flint residents were unnecessarily injured and hundreds of millions of property damage resulted due to the deliberate indifference of a handful of state, city and county officials," said Michael Pitt, co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "Public officials must never again be permitted to give assurances to the public about public health conditions when they know the assurances are false. Public officials must never again be permitted to ruin the lives of our children by remaining silent in the face of a public health emergency," Pitt said.
"The attention of the state and the country are finally focused on Flint and there is outrage. But this public outrage doesn't mean the affected residents will be fairly compensated for their injuries and damages. They will still be here long after the media has gone and we want to help to ensure that they receive just and fair compensation," Pitt said.
Read the legal complaints here:
Michigan Court of Claims complaint:
http://pittlawpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Flint-Water-Crisis-Complaint-Filed-Jan-15-2016-in-MIch.-Court-of-Claims.pdf
Genesee County Circuit Court complaint: Available at event and on PR Newswire version of release.
http://pittlawpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Mays-vs.-Genesee-County-Complaint-1-19-2016.docx
