LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A Michigan judge ruled in favor of Flint residents who filed a class-action lawsuit against the state and state officials over the city’s lead-contaminated water, rejecting a motion to dismiss the case entirely.
The ruling made public Thursday is the first major decision to be issued in a slew of civil suits stemming from Flint’s ongoing water emergency.
It lets the plaintiffs proceed under two constitutional claims: a violation of their right to “bodily integrity” and inverse condemnation, by which they are seeking compensation for plumbing damage and reduced property values. The suit filed in January alleges that state officials caused and covered up the growing public health threat posed by tap water that was improperly treated after a 2014 switch to the Flint River while the city of nearly 1000,000 people was under state management, leaching toxic lead from aging pipes into the supply and exposing people to deadly Legionella bacteria.
Court of Claims Judge Mark Boonstra said Wednesday that the six residents’ allegations, if proven, would be “so arbitrary, in a constitutional sense, as to shock the conscience.”
State agencies and officials are generally immune from legal liability for exercising governmental functions. But Boonstra concluded that financial damages can be sought for alleged violations of the state constitution. He added that because Gov. Rick Snyder and two state-appointed emergency managers were sued in their official capacity, the “state alone remains accountable for any resulting damage liability.”