New York High Court Rejects LIPA & National Grid Defense In Hurricane Sandy Litigation

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — On Tuesday, February 20, 2018, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in a 6-0 judge opinion in Heeran v. Long Island Power Authority & National Grid, that the defendants are not immune from liability under the legal doctrine of governmental immunity. The defendants have been sued by over 150 home and business owners who lost their properties to fires in Breezy Point and Rockaway Beach when the power was kept on during Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. The defendants themselves advised the court the case was worth $100 million in damages. The ruling clears the way for a jury trial to proceed in the coming months.

An aerial shot of the destruction to homes in Breezy Point and Rockaway Beach when the power was kept on during Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012.

The lawsuit alleges that 150 homes were destroyed by massive infernos during Hurricane Sandy. However, plaintiffs’ attorney Keith Sullivan of Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP, does not hold Mother Nature solely responsible for the losses. “If LIPA and National Grid acted responsibly in preparing for the storm my clients would be living in their homes with all of their life’s possessions and the communities would not have looked like war-zones after the storm passed through. Industry protocol and common sense called for de-energizing the electric system. However, LIPA and National Grid chose to keep the dangerous electric flowing into the beachfront communities during the worst storm this area has ever seen without any oversight or monitoring of the hazardous electricity.”

The lawsuit alleges that while LIPA was entrusted with the power and authority to distribute the electricity, they passed that responsibility off to National Grid by paying them an annual base of $224 Million with various added incentive bonuses to operate and maintain the electrical transmissions.

In ruling against the defendants, the court held “We reject defendants’ claim that the magnitude of the disaster, without reference to the circumstances and nature of the specific act or omission alleged – i.e., the failure to de-energize – renders LIPA’s conduct governmental as a matter of law.”

Sullivan added, “Unquestionably, the court reached the right decision. This is a tremendous victory for our clients. Sadly, some of our clients are still not back in their homes and businesses are not yet opened, but the defendants chose to spend five years pushing this invalid defense.”

In a concurring opinion Justice Rivera characterized the immunity defense as “…an argument that has no possibility of success.”