IESHA MITCHELL, guardian and next friend of A.M., et al. v. CITY OF BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN; MARCUS MUHAMMAD; MICHAEL O’MALLEY; DARWIN WATSON; LIESL CLARK; ERIC OSWALD; ERNEST SARKIPATO; BRANDON ONAN; ELHORN ENGINEERING COMPANY - Articles

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IESHA MITCHELL, guardian and next friend of A.M., et al. v. CITY OF BENTON HARBOR, MICHIGAN; MARCUS MUHAMMAD; MICHAEL O’MALLEY; DARWIN WATSON; LIESL CLARK; ERIC OSWALD; ERNEST SARKIPATO; BRANDON ONAN; ELHORN ENGINEERING COMPANY

Posted by: Azya Thornton on May 6, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Melanie P. Daly, LEVY KONIGSBERG, New York, New York, for Appellants.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Thomas J. Rheaume, Jr., BODMAN PLC, Detroit, Michigan, for City of Benton Harbor Appellees. Rebecca M. Smith, OFFICE OF THE MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL, Lansing, Michigan, for State Defendant Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ARGUED: Douglas J. Curlew, CUMMINGS, MCCLOREY, DAVIS & ACHO, P.L.C., Livonia, Michigan, for Appellee Elhorn Engineering Company.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Melanie P. Daly, Corey M. Stern, LEVY KONIGSBERG, New York, New York, for Appellants.

Attorneys 5: ON BRIEF: Thomas J. Rheaume, Jr., Alexandra C. Markel, Walter G. Pelton, BODMAN PLC, Detroit, Michigan, for City of Benton Harbor Appellees.

Attorneys 6: ON BRIEF: Rebecca M. Smith, Margaret A. Bettenhausen, Nathan A. Gambill, OFFICE OF THE MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL, Lansing, Michigan, for State Defendant Appellees.

Attorneys 7: ON BRIEF: Douglas J. Curlew, CUMMINGS, MCCLOREY, DAVIS & ACHO, P.L.C., Livonia, Michigan, for Appellee Elhorn Engineering Company.

Judge(s): MOORE, COLE, and LARSEN, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. This case concerns the claims of several hundred children in Benton Harbor, Michigan, who drank lead-contaminated water from the City’s public water system for three years and now suffer from the consequences of elevated lead levels in their blood. Plaintiffs filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan against several state officials and city officials, as well as two engineering firms, whom they blame for failing to mitigate and even worsening the lead-water crisis and misleading them about the dangers of the drinking water. They brought substantive-due-process and state-created-danger claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state-law negligence claims. The district court dismissed the complaint. We AFFIRM IN PART and REVERSE IN PART. Because Plaintiffs plausibly pleaded a violation of the right to bodily integrity against the city officials, we reverse and remand as to those officials and as to the municipality but affirm as to the state officials. We also reverse the district court’s declination of supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims and remand for reconsideration.

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