Christina Spicer  |  April 30, 2014

Category: Consumer News

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Farmers InsuranceThe city of Chicago and nearby towns were hit with a class action lawsuit filed by Illinois Farmers Insurance Company accusing the city and surrounding towns of not adequately increasing their stormwater storage capacity that caused heavy rainfall to flood hundreds of homes in 2013.

Lead plaintiff Illinois Farmers Insurance Company filed the class action lawsuit in circuit court on April 21, alleging that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Cook County and its municipalities should have known to increase the capacity of local storm water sewer systems because of data linking climate change to increased rainfall. Farmers claims that the defendants ignored this data and allowed a “reasonably foreseeable” rainfall in Cook County in April of 2013 to flood more than 600 homes and overflow sewage systems. Farmers Insurance seeks to represent other insurance companies and property owners affected economically by the flooding in the area during that time, April 17 to 18, 2013.

The Farmers Insurance class action lawsuit alleges that the Water Reclamation District knew the water reclamation systems were defective and issued plans that disclosed “dangerous and hazardous defects posed by the dangerous and hazardous defective stormwater sewer systems and sanitary water sewer systems and the dangerous and hazardous stormwater management practices of each Municipal Defendant.”

The Farmers Insurance class action lawsuit also claims that “[d]uring the past 40 years, climate change in Cook County has caused rains to be of greater volume, greater intensity and greater duration than pre-1970 rainfall history evidenced, rendering the rainfall frequency return tables employed by the Reclamation District and each Named Municipal Defendant inaccurate and obsolete,” and “[i]n or around 2008, the Reclamation District, the County of Cook, the City o f Chicago and other Municipal Defendants adopted the scientific principle that climate change has caused increases in rain fall amount, intensity and duration during a rain in the Cook County as evidenced by their adoption o f the Chicago Climate Action Plan.”

“This defendant knew or should have known that climate change in Cook County has resulted in greater rain fall volume, greater rainfall intensity and greater rainfall duration than pre- 1970 rainfall history evidenced, resulting in greater stormwater runoff from a rainfall with Cook County and its Watersheds,” accused Farmers Insurance in its class action lawsuit. “This defendant knew that, because of climate change causing increased rainfall, this defendant had to increase stormwater storage capacity of its stormwater sewer system(s) to prevent sewer water invasions.”

Further, “[o]n or about the days before April 17 and/or April 18, 2013, including on April 17, 2013 and April 18, 2013, this defendant knew or should have known that the Occurrence rainfall was approaching Cook County Watersheds,” said the class action lawsuit, and “[t]his Defendant had adequate time and opportunity to plan, pre-stage and take other actions before the Occurrence rainfall to maximize stormwater storage and/or transportation capacity within its stormwater sewer system(s) and sanitary water sewer system(s).”

The Farmers Insurance class action lawsuit says it is making claims for Negligent Maintenance Liability, Failure to Remedy Known Conditions, and for Violations of the Illinois and U.S. Constitutions.

The lead plaintiff, Illinois Farmers Insurance Co., is represented by Stuart M. Brody, William Sneckenberg, and Steven M. Thompson of Sneckenberg Thompson & Brody LLP.

The Farmers Chicago Flooding Class Action Lawsuit is Illinois Farmers Insurance Co. v. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago District, et al., Case No. 14CH06608, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

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One thought on Farmers Insurance Class Action Lawsuit Places Home Flooding Blame on City of Chicago

  1. Ann Marie Jagiella Zapolis says:

    Farmers paid out (I think) two times my basement flooded. It was due directly from Orland Park incorrectly building around my home without concern for the water and drainage. I support you in your law suit against the towns and villages who build without regard to the consequences of flooding. You can use my case against the town of Orland Park. I have video’s of the continued flooding as evidence of the flooding.

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