May 7, 2025
A Florida state appellate court on Wednesday reinstated a proposed class action alleging negligence against the city of Miramar and a consultant over improperly treated tap water that led to damaged pipes in homes, saying the complaint sufficiently claimed the city assumed a duty to make sure water wasn’t corrosive.
A three-judge Fourth District Court of Appeal panel issued a per curiam opinion, reversing dismissal of residents’ claims alleging negligence against Miramar and consultant Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. and remanding the case to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.
Additionally, the panel reversed the dismissal of a professional malpractice claim against Kimley-Horn, but it affirmed the dismissal of a negligent misrepresentation claim against the consultant, saying the residents “insufficiently alleged justifiable reliance on material misrepresentations.” The panel also affirmed the dismissal of breach of implied warranty and strict liability claims against Miramar.
. . .
Leslie Kroeger of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, representing the residents, said in a prepared statement emailed to Law360 on Wednesday that the panel’s ruling “represents significant progress for Miramar residents who have suffered substantial plumbing and property damage.”
“Many homeowners faced expenses in the tens of thousands of dollars, with some forced to completely re-pipe their homes,” Kroeger said. “They shouldn’t bear the financial burden of the city’s failure to properly treat their water supply.”
Reached by email on Wednesday, Kroeger told Law360 she expects the case to be re-assigned to another judge in the lower court’s complex division and proceed to a status conference to determine a case schedule and possible trial date.
. . .
The residents are represented by Jeffrey V. Mansell and Bard D. Rockenbach of Burlington & Rockenbach PA, Leslie M. Kroeger and Diana L. Martin of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, and J. Eric Romano of Romano Law Group.
Read Fla. City Residents’ Suit Over Corroded Water Pipes Revived.