Class Action Lawsuit Seeks To End Detroit Water Shutoffs

In recent legal news, numerous individuals have filed a class action lawsuit against the city of Detroit, its mayor and the governor of Michigan, claiming the city unlawfully shuts off their water supply in violation of their basic civil rights.

Plaintiffs Jacqueline Taylor, Lisa Brooks, Michele Cowan, Tuana Henry, Mattie McCorkle, Renee Wilson and the People’s Water Board Coalition say the defendants have violated their body integrity in violation of the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment by showing deliberate indifference to the known risks of living without water service.

Taylor is a 66-year-old Black woman living in Detroit. She says she owns her home and has a monthly average income of $860 from Social Security benefits and has a home health aide assisting her in her home. 

Taylor states that due to her age, she is at a heightened risk of developing life-threatening complications if she contracts COVID-19. 

In January and February 2016, Taylor claims she was hospitalized and in a rehabilitation center for a hip replacement. She says that at that time, nobody was living in her home or using her water service.

She maintains that when she returned home after her surgery, she received a bill from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) for between $1,500 and $2,000. 

The plaintiff says she contacted DWSD, but the department refused to adjust her bill. Taylor states that she could not afford to pay her bill and believes she was overbilled.

According to the Detroit water class action lawsuit, DWSD eventually disconnected Taylor’s water service in mid-2018 and claimed that she owed nearly $6,000 is water service arrearages. 

“During the time that Ms. Taylor lacked water service, she would wash her hands by first warming a bowl of donated bottled water in the microwave. She would then pour the warmed water on her hands, lather with soap, and rinse her hands with additional bottled water,” according to the Detroit water class action lawsuit.

Taylor says DWSD reconnected her water service in March 2020, and she is on a special plan whereby her current monthly bill is $25. Taylor says she still owes DWSD for the prior arrearages.

She claims that when Detroit resumes water shutoffs after the COVID-19 pandemic, she will be at immediate risk of losing water service at home due to her low income and the inability to pay her water bill, including prior arrearages.

The plaintiffs maintain that the city of Detroit has had a water affordability crisis for decades. They say that while water is considered “affordable” when families spend no more than 2% to 2.5% of their household incomes on water services, low-income Detroit residents must pay an average of 10% of their household incomes on water services.

According to the Detroit water class action lawsuit, when customers’ water bills go unpaid, DWSD disconnects their service without first determining whether the customers have a means to pay their bills. The plaintiffs allege that the looming resumption of water shutoffs will exacerbate an existing public health emergency in Detroit if the court does not act and intervene.

“Between 2014 and 2019, more than 141,000 households in Detroit had their water service disconnected for non-payment,” the plaintiffs say. They also claim some families live for years without water service in their homes after a disconnection by DWSD.

The plaintiffs state that other Detroit residents are trapped in a cycle of water insecurity with repeated disconnections and reconnections. These residents risk losing water service at any time because of their inability to pay DWSD rates, the plaintiffs maintain.

“Despite repeated, consistent demands for remedial action by affected communities and their advocates, including Plaintiff People’s Water Board Coalition, Defendants’ response to this public health emergency has been woefully inadequate and appallingly weak,” the Detroit water class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs claim the defendants have failed to implement a program to ensure Detroit’s water insecure population has long-term access to affordable water. They also say Detroit has continued to employ water shutoffs as a collection method despite the known risks of living without water.

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the plaintiffs state that the defendants have admonished members of the public to engage in regular hand washing to prevent infection and the spread of the disease. However, through its water shutoff policy, Detroit has made hand washing an impossibility for thousands of families in the city for nearly 20 years, the plaintiffs say.

What do you think of Detroit’s water shutoff policy? Leave a comment below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mark P. Fancher, Daniel S. Korobkin and Bonsitu Kitaba-Gaviglio of American Civil Liberties Fund of Michigan; Coty Montag, Jason Bailey and Monique Lin-Luse of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc.; Alice B. Jennings of Edwards & Jennings P.C.; Lorray S. C. Brown of the Michigan Poverty Law Program; Kurt Thornbladh of Thornbladh Legal Group PLLC; and Melissa Z. El Johnson of Melissa Z. El P.C.

The Detroit Water Class Action Lawsuit is Jacqueline Taylor, et al. v. City of Detroit, et al., Case No. 4:20-cv-11860, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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