Mitchell Schermer
A Florida panhandle jury has awarded $37.5 million to 28 Gulf Breeze residents who in 2021 experienced sewage contamination in their homes due to a crew’s mix-up in connecting supply lines.
“Subsequently, and as a result of the connection, raw sewage was forced into the fresh water and drinking water supply lines that supplied water to the homes of the plaintiff homeowners,” the underlying lawsuit in the case states.
The jury’s Nov. 21 verdict against the defendant, Midway Water System, took place in the First Judicial Circuit Court in Santa Rosa County. Other defendants in the case – the City of Gulf Breeze and Brown Construction of Northwest Florida – ultimately were dismissed from the lawsuit as a result of settlements negotiated with the Orlando-based Morgan & Morgan law firm, which represented the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs rejected pre-trial settlement offers from Midway Water System, according to Morgan & Morgan.
The events described in the lawsuit, called the 2021 Midway water crisis, unfolded after a Gulf Breeze homeowner hired Brown Construction to establish a connection to Gulf Breeze’s sewer main, the law firm said.
“While doing this, the sewer line was mistakenly connected with Midway Water System Inc.’s water line, which supplies drinking water to homeowners in the area, according to Morgan & Morgan.
The subsequent lawsuit alleged that for weeks residents were unaware that raw sewage was reaching their homes, affecting showers, washing machines and food preparation.
“Due to the actions and inaction of the defendants, the plaintiff homeowners and members of their family became ill with a variety of horrendous gastrointestinal illnesses, each linked to the ingestion of bacteria associated with raw sewage,” the lawsuit said.
The water utility did not respond to a request for comment about the jury’s verdict, but in Midway’s court motion for a directed verdict, the defendant argued that none of the 28 defendants had established causation – that is, proof that the sewage contamination directly caused their physical or emotional distress.
“There are individuals in the same household that had physical symptoms and others that did not,” Midway argued. “Some plaintiffs assert certain mental or emotional symptoms while others do not.”
The jury found that Midway was 59% at fault for the contamination, given that the improper connection took place as a result of Midway’s failure to mark its waterline at the location of the crossed lines, according to Morgan & Morgan.
After the discovery of the crossed lines in October of 2021, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection fined Midway for running afoul of multiple administrative rules pertaining to the operation of the water system, the law firm said.
In a statement emailed to the Florida Record, Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and attorney Mitchell Schermer said in a joint statement that the jury award is vindication for their clients’ suffering in recent years.
“Each time Midway Water had an opportunity to do the right thing, Midway continued to point the finger at others rather than accept responsibility for their mistakes that upended these homeowners’ lives,” the statement said. “This was a nightmare for our clients, and because of Midway's actions and inactions, it became their reality.”
