LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) – The State of Michigan cannot use the Governmental Tort Liability Act to fight lawsuits over fatal traffic accidents involving the State Police in Flint.
The Michigan Court of Appeals reached this decision May 21 in consolidated appeals from Genesee Circuit Court. In two separate lawsuits, it was alleged that bystanders were injured or killed as a result of high-speed chases.
The trial court would not grant the State immunity from the lawsuits, and neither did the Court of Appeals. It was determined the plaintiffs styled their complaint to avoid such a defense.
“(T)here is no claim against these defendants for negligent or grossly negligent operation of a public vehicle,” the plaintiffs wrote in their appellate brief.
Instead, the complaints allege disparate impact under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, seeking damages under that affect, a declaration that the State Police policy of permitting high-speed chases for minor offenses is unconstitutional and adoption of a different policy.
The lawsuit claimed that deadly police chases were more likely in majority-black cities where extra troopers had been assigned, according to a 2018 report on MLive.com.