Judge Dismisses Claims Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Contributed To Flint Water Crisis

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Flint Water Crisis Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A Michigan federal judge dismissed claims against Wells Fargo and JPMorgan. 
• Why: Wells Fargo and JPMorgan had been accused of bearing some responsibility for the Flint water crisis. 
• Where: The lawsuit was dismissed in Michigan federal court. 

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan were let off the hook of claims the banks contributed to the Flint water crisis.

The financial institutions had been accused of playing an important role in the water crisis, which exposed thousands of residents of Flint, Michigan, to unsafe levels of lead. 

In dismissing the claims, a Michigan federal judge ruled that LeeAnn Walters, representing a class of more than 2,600 residents of Flint who were children at the time of the crisis, had not shown that Wells Fargo or JPMorgan “planned to poison Flint water users.” 

“To be sure, defendants’ conduct was one step in the causal chain that ultimately led to the violation of plaintiffs’ rights,” the judge said in an opinion and order. “But even as plaintiffs tell the story, defendants did not have the objective of violating plaintiffs’ rights.”

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, along with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc., were the underwriters on the sale of a municipal bond that funded a water pipeline project that eventually led to the crisis, according to the order.

Walters argued Wells Fargo and JPMorgan knew Flint would not be able to afford upgrades at its Flint Water Treatment Plant (FWTP) that would allow it to adequately treat Flint river water and thus bore responsibility for the crisis. 

Further, Walters claimed Wells Fargo and JPMorgan had worked with government officials to get the water pipeline project to go forward.

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Were Themselves Misled, Judge Rules 

In dismissing the claims, the judge said it was not clear who JPMorgan and Wells Fargo were alleged to have worked together with and that there was “very little that ties defendants to the City of Flint’s decision to use the Flint River as an interim source of water and to use the FWTP without necessary upgrades.”

The judge determined that, rather than implicate Wells Fargo and JPMorgan, the complaint actually made it appear as if Flint had misled the financial institutions by informing them they had a plan in place to improve the FWTP before taking water from the Flint river.

In January, preliminary approval was given to a $641 million settlement agreement between the state of Michigan and Flint residents who were allegedly exposed to water tainted with lead during the crisis.

If you used, were exposed to or paid for water from the Flint Water Treatment Plant, you may be able to benefit from a $641.25 million water contamination class action lawsuit settlement with city and state entities and others. Click here for more information (links to paid attorney content).

The plaintiffs are represented by Renner K. Walker and Corey M. Stern of Levy Konigsberg LLP.

The Lawsuit is Walters, et al. v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., et al., Case No. 5:20-cv-12726, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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