Alicia Uhouse, et al. v. United States Department of the Interior, et al.; Judy Kroshus, et al. v. United States of America
Published: Nov. 5, 2011 | Result Date: Jul. 29, 2011 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 3:08-cv-00285-LDG-RAM and 3:08-cv-00246-LDG-RAM Settlement – Equitable Settlement
Court
USDC Nevada
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
William J. Doyle II
(Doyle APC)
John A. Aberasturi
(Erickson, Thorpe & Swainston Ltd.)
John M. Fedor
(Farmer Case & Fedor)
Roger W. Strassburg
(Resnick & Louis)
Anthony T. Case
(Case, Harvey & Fedor)
Benjamin D. Petiprin
(Spreter & Petiprin APC)
Facts
Victims of a flood caused by the failure of a century-old irrigation canal in 2008 filed a class action against defendants for damages. The flood occurred in Lyon County in the city of Fernley, which was located within the Truckee Carson Irrigation District (TCID). Plaintiffs claimed that the local governments shared the responsibility because they knew or should have known that the canal was in disrepair based on previous studies and warnings from the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation. Plaintiffs claimed defendants failed to maintain the earthen canal, which burst and sent a wall of water into a Fernley neighborhood.
Result
A partial settlement of the matter was reached between the victims. The City of Fernley agreed to pay $5 million settlement, and Lyon County agreed to pay $1.3 million. TCID's insurer, Country Mutual Insurance Co. will pay $3.8 million and $50,000 will be paid on behalf of an additional TCID director. An additional $10 million settlement with TCID was initially repudiated by TCID but a recent Order of the Third Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada requires TCID to honor the settlement.
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