Attorneys Bailey Couger and Nathan Scherbarth secured a favorable decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Banks v. Charter Township of Bloomfield.
The plaintiffs claimed that road improvements completed in 2019, combined with deteriorating drainage infrastructure beneath their properties, led to recurring flooding in the subdivision. They sued Bloomfield Township and the Oakland County Road Commission under federal and state takings theories.
The court rejected plaintiffs’ theory that the road project constituted a taking because the complaint did not plausibly allege that flooding was the intended or foreseeable result of the government’s actions. The panel emphasized that negligence alone does not establish a constitutional taking. The court also rejected claims based on alleged failures to maintain the drainage pipes, holding that the local governments lacked a possessory interest in the easement and therefore had no obligation to repair privately owned infrastructure.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of the complaint in a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton. You may read the opinion here: Banks v. Charter Twp. of Bloomfield
Michigan Lawyers Weekly reported on the decision, describing the ruling as an important application of federal takings principles in the context of drainage easements and flooding claims.
Shareholder Nathan Scherbarth and Associate Bailey Couger represented the defendants on appeal. We congratulate Nathan and Bailey on this successful result in the Sixth Circuit.
Zausmer
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