Case: Brown v. Snyder

On November 2, 2017, five residents of Flint, MI filed this lawsuit in the Michigan Court of Claims. The plaintiffs sued the State of Michigan and state employees for personal injuries and property damage arising out of the Flint Water Crisis under Michigan state law. Represented by private counsel, the plaintiffs sought declaratory relief, injunctive relief requiring the remediation of harm caused to plaintiffs, monitoring, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

This is one of many cases arising out of the Flint Water Crisis. The plaintiffs claimed that city and state officials chose to use the Flint River as a primary source of water for residents in Flint, despite knowing that the water was unsafe for consumption. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that Flint officials began using water from the Flint River in 2013, despite multiple environmental studies conducted in 2011 and 2012 warning against it.

The plaintiffs initially filed in the Michigan Court of Claims, where the case was first assigned to Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens and then immediately reassigned to Judge Christopher M. Murray. The defendants removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on February 28, 2018. The defendants supplied two bases for federal jurisdiction: first, that they qualified as federal officers because the Environmental Protection Agency controlled their operations; and second, that they acted under federal statutes and rules including the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Surface Water Treatment Rule, and the Lead and Copper Rule. The case was originally assigned to Judge John Corbett O’Meara and quickly reassigned to Judge Judith E. Levy, who handled most of the cases related to the Flint water crisis. The plaintiffs moved to remand the case to state court.

The court remanded the case a series of related orders. First, on March 29, 2018, Judge Levy determined that the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Mays v. City of Flint foreclosed the defendants’ argument that they were eligible for federal officer removal. 2018 WL 10705454. In the same order, Judge Levy expressed concern at exercising jurisdiction over a state-law claim based only on “general[] references” to federal law and directed the defendants to show cause why the case should not be remanded. Then, on April 3, 2018, the court granted a stipulated order remanding the cases against defendants who served as emergency managers in Flint. Finally, on April 17, 2018, Judge Levy remanded the remaining claims. 2018 WL 11148405. Judge Levy wrote that under Nappier v. Snyder, removal based on a substantial federal question required the unanimous consent of all defendants, which did not exist in this case as to the defendants who stipulated to remand.

The defendants appealed on May 10, 2018. They soon recognized that binding Sixth Circuit precedent foreclosed their appeal absent action by the Supreme Court on Nappier or further developments in Waid v. Snyder, a consolidated case involving federal class actions arising from the Flint Water crisis. The parties stipulated to a voluntary dismissal on July 6, 2018.

The case then resumed in state court. The court (Judge Christopher Murray) denied the defendants’ motion for summary disposition on July 10, 2018. Various defendants appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals (Case nos. 344857, 344859, and 344862), arguing that they enjoyed governmental immunity. These appeals were later consolidated into one.

The parties continued to litigate the case in the state trial court. However, in September 2019, the case was held in abeyance as the parties discussed settlement in federal district court. In addition, the parties filed a joint motion to stay the proceedings pending the finalization of a settlement, which was granted on December 3, 2020.

On December 16, 2021, the state court consolidated this case with other similar cases. The case was also reassigned to Judge Thomas C. Cameron.

On November 10, 2021, Judge Levy approved a settlement in the federal cases about the Flint Water Crisis, in which Michigan agreed to create a $600 million settlement fund against which Flint residents and businesses could make claims. As part of the settlement, the parties agreed to dismiss related cases in federal and state court. This case was dismissed with prejudice in the state court on April 20, 2022. In addition, on August 3, 2022, the parties dismissed the appeal in the state court.

This case is now closed.