Romine can't pursue assault and battery claims against city ! Remaining claim going to trial Oct. 21
Posted on Friday, October 10, 2008
A judge ruled Thursday that a Fayetteville woman waited too long to file a lawsuit against the city to be able to pursue two of her claims.
Jeanny Romine's lawsuit against the city of Fayetteville is set for trial Oct. 21 on the remaining claim of inverse condemnation. Romine clams that her property has been irreparably harmed because of sewage spills in her backyard.
The statute of limitations prevents Romine from pursuing claims of assault and battery and outrage against the city because the sewage spills began in 1998, ruled 4 th Judicial Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn.
The judge previously ruled that Romine cannot pursue civil rights claims or seek punitive damages from the city.
Kyle Unser, Romine's attorney, argued Thursday that Romine should be able to pursue claims of assault and outrage because the sewage spills happened numerous times and the city did not fix the problem.
"Every single time a toilet is flushed is a new assault," Unser said.
The claims of outrage are based on allegations that the city intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon Romine, which the city denies.
City Attorney Kit Williams said that the city tried to fix the problem in 1998, but Romine refused to sell the city an easement so workers could repair the leaky sewer line that crossed Romine's backyard.
Romine and the city disagree over whether the line was a private line or cityowned line, but Williams said that does not matter because city officials acted in good faith to resolve the matter.
"There simply is no wrongful intent," Williams said.
Romine filed her lawsuit in 2005, claiming that she reported in 1998 recurring problems with raw sewage flowing onto her property from sewer lines belonging to the city. She later amended her complaint to include two neighbors who the city said owned private lines behind her house.
Gunn on Thursday denied a motion for summary judgment in favor of Romine against the two neighbors. Gunn said she will reconsider whether the claims against the neighbors are invalid because of the statute of limitations.
Gunn assured attorneys that this case - which has long been delayed because new parties have been added and because of appeals of rulings - will go to trial Oct. 21.
The sewage problem was fixed in 2005 after the city required neighboring landowners, who lived uphill from Romine, to connect to a sewer main in front of their houses. The failed line that had previously served these two neighbors ran though Romine's backyard, which is uphill from her house at 11 W. Trenton Blvd.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in June that David Jurgens, the city's water and wastewater director, has immunity and should be dismissed from the lawsuit, which he has been.
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