City Still Fighting As Lead Case Drags On

Lead paint is no longer an election issue, but remains a legal one, as the Harp administration continues to fight a class-action lawsuit.

A platoon of city lawyers appeared Thursday afternoon at a five-minute public status conference that followed a 30-minute private chambers conference in the third-floor housing court at 121 Elm St.. State Superior Court Judge Claudia Baio laid out a timeline for the next legal steps in the case Nyriel Smith v. City of New Haven.

She told the city, city-hired, and New Haven Legal Assistance Association attorneys present that, per mutual agreement, legal aid will file by Nov. 15 for a preliminary injunction order that would require the city to conduct full lead inspections and enforce subsequent lead hazard abatement orders for upwards of 300 children previously neglected by the city’s lax enforcement of existing local law.

If approved, that would be an expansion of the same order that previous state housing court Judge John Cordani granted for the two primary child plaintiffs this summer.

“The court has that the plaintiff will be seeking to have their injunction extended to the entire class,” Baio said.

The city and city-hired attorneys will then file by Dec. 13 a planned objection to that injunction request, the judge continued. She asked all attorneys present that they meet for another update on the case after the motions have been filed but sometime before the new year.

The city Health Department’s handling of lead inspections and abatement orders was a consistent critique of mayoral challenger Justin Elicker’s campaign. Elicker will be taking office as the city’s 51st mayor in January after he trounced incumbent Mayor Toni Harp during Tuesday’s general election by well more than a 2 to 1 margin.

The five city and city-hired outside lawyers present for the defense were Corporation Counsel John Rose, Deputy Corporation Counsel Catherine LaMarr, Assistant Corporation Counsel Roderick Williams, and Winnick Ruben Hoffnung Peabody & Mendel, LLC attorneys Andrew Cohen and Nancy Mendel.

The city has been paying Cohen $300 an hour and Mendel $226 an hour over the course of the class action suit. New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA) Director of Litigation Shelley White and housing attorney Amy Marx (who were both present Thursday for the plaintiff) filed the suit in May regarding the city’s decision to follow a state threshold, rather than a local and federal threshold, for lead poisoning.

Not in the room Thursday were two Boston-based attorneys the city has also hired to help fight the class action case.

The previous housing court judge to hear the case, Cordani, consistently ruled on behalf of legal aid and against the city in this case, just as three other state judges have done in a slew of other recent lead poisoning cases.

Meanwhile, the city’s quest to amend the existing local lead law will continue on Tuesday, when health department officials and city attorneys are slated to testify before the aldermanic Legislation Committee about an updated version of the amended law.

A previous version was tabled by the alders because of public and legal aid concerns that it would ​“eviscerate” current mandatory protections by giving too much discretion to the Health Department director. The version that will be reviewed and discussed by the Legislation Committee on Tuesday night at City Hall can be read in full here and here.

Previous lead coverage:
• City Lands $5.6M In Federal Lead Grants
• 5 New Lead Inspector Positions Approved
• Outrage Stalls Weakened Lead Law
• Lead Paint Legal Tab Tops $118K
• City Plan Passes On Lead Law
• City Loses Again On Lead
• Judge Denies City’s Motion To Dismiss Lead Suit
• City, Legal Aid Clash In Court On Lead
• New Lead Proposal ​“Eviscerates” Mandate
• Lead Cleanup Pricetag: $91M?
• Lead Panel’s Advice Rejected
• Lead Paint Chief Retires
• Lead Paint Fight Rejoined
• Harp Switches Gears On Lead
• Motion Accuses City Of Contempt
• City Loses Again On Lead
• Briefs Debate ​“Lead Poisoning”
• New Haven: Another Flint?
• Harp Administration Admits Relaxing Lead Standard To Save $$
• Class-Action Suit Slams City On Lead
• City, Legal Aid Clash On Lead Paint
• Legal Aid To City: Get Moving On Lead Paint Law
• 100+ Tenants Caught In Lead Limbo
• 2 Agencies, 2 Tacks On Lead Paint
• Chapel Apartments Get 3rd Lead Order
• Lead Sends Family Packing
• Health Officials Grilled On Lead Plans
• Judge Threatens To Find City In Contempt
• Same Mandy House Cited Twice For Lead Paint
• Lead $ Search Advances
• 3 Landlords Hit With New Lead Orders
• Another Judge Rips City On Lead
• Judge To City: Get Moving On Lead
• Health Department Seeks Another $4.1M For Lead Abatement
• City-OK’d Lead Fixes Fail Independent Inspection
• Judge: City Dragged Feet On Lead
• 2nd Kid Poisoned After City Ordered Repairs
• Judge: City Must Pay
• City Sued Over Handling Of Lead Poisonings
• City’s Lead Inspection Goes On Trial
• Eviction Withdrawn On Technicality
• 2nd Child Poisoned; Where’s The City?
• Carpenter With Poisoned Kid Tries A Fix
• High Lead Levels Stall Eviction
• 460 Kids Poisoned By Lead In 2 Years
• Bid-Rigging Claimed In Lead Cleanup
• Judge Orders Total Lead Paint Clean-Up
• Legal Aid Takes City To Task On Lead