Agriculture Street Landfill Class Action Lawsuit
John Johnson, et al v. Orleans Parish School Board, et al. Civil District Court, No. 1993-14333, Division J-15.
Notice of Final Judgment—December 5, 2023.
On June 10, 2022, Civil District Court Judge D. Nicole Sheppard granted the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Class Counsel (names listed below) for the more than 5,000 eligible members of the “John Johnson” Class. Her Judgment awards the Class a total amount of more than $75 million.
The City of New Orleans and the Housing Authority of New Orleans appealed/objected to Judge Sheppard’s Judgment. The Louisiana 4 th Circuit Court of Appeal issued its Judgment approving Judge Sheppard’s Judgment on May 31, 2023 – that is, the Court of Appeal said that Judge Sheppard’s $75 million Judgment is correct.
Then the Housing Authority of New Orleans alone – the City did not join with them – appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court. On December 5, 2023, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that they are not going to hear HANO’s appeal. They rejected HANO’s appeal.
So Judge Sheppard’s $75 million Judgment is now a final Judgment. But none of the defendants – the City, HANO, and the Orleans Parish School Board – have made any effort to pay the Judgment or even a part of the Judgment. At this time, we have no indication that any of these defendants will ever pay the Judgment, and, as we have reported to you before, under Louisiana law, we cannot force them to pay it.
If or when we have any news of the possibility of any payments, we will notify Class members by posting the announcement on our websites. Meanwhile, if you have moved, call the dedicated phone number 504-297-1215, and leave a message with your name and phone number. Someone will call you back to get your new address. Please do not call just for information – the litigation is now over and there is no new information at this time.
Thank you – Class Counsel,
Suzette Bagneris, Joseph Bruno, Linda Harang, Stephen Murray, and George Roux
Notice of Judgment—March 17, 2022.
Notice of Signing of Judgment—Ruling on MSJ, Reasons for Judgment
JUDGE GRANTS $75 million JUDGMENT
On February 15, 2022, Civil District Court Judge D. Nicole Sheppard held a hearing by “Zoom” (no one was allowed in the Courthouse, and only the attorneys were allowed to participate) on the Class Members’ Motion for Summary Judgment that we filed on April 9, 2021. We sent a letter last year notifying all Class Members that we had filed the Motion.
The Motion was originally set for hearing on November 2, 2021. Then it was changed to November 19, 2021. Then it was changed to January 5, 2022. And then it was changed to February 15, 2022, when it finally took place.
The Judge issued her Judgment on March 14, 2022, and she granted the Class Members’ Motion. The total value of the Judgment, including interest, as of April 9, 2021, is $75,323,455.71.
The Judgment awards individual amounts to everyone who received a partial payment for their claims in the 2015 Settlement with the former Insurers of HANO. So if you received a payment in 2015, then you are listed in “Exhibit A”, which is attached to the Motion that the Judge just granted. The individual awards the Judge made are based on whether you lived on the EPA site or in the Adjacent Area, and the present value of your home if you are a homeowner, as those matters were determined by the Court and the Special Master in 2014-2015.
At this time, we have absolutely no indication from the City of New Orleans or the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) that they will ever pay the amounts awarded to each of you in the Judgment. By State law, we cannot force them to pay you. All we can do, and what we will do, is continue to talk with attorneys for the City and HANO to try to convince them to agree to pay this Judgment.
You should also understand that this $75 million Judgment has nothing to do with the lawsuits filed by about 24 Gordon Plaza homeowners in Federal Court in New Orleans, trying the force the City to pay to relocate the remaining Gordon Plaza residents. Those two lawsuits only pertained to Gordon Plaza, and did not ask for anything for anyone else who ever lived on the Agriculture Street Landfill or went to school at Moton. Those two Federal Court lawsuits were filed by another group of lawyers, and they were both dismissed by the Federal Court. So both Federal Court lawsuits failed. Fortunately, their failure in Federal Court has no effect on the $75 million Judgment that the 5 of us who are your Court-appointed Class Counsel were able to finally get for you.
If/when we have any news about the possibility of any payments, we will post the announcement on our firm’s websites. Meanwhile, if you have moved, please call 504-297-1215, and give us your new address.
Thank you for your patience – Your Class Counsel,
Suzette Bagneris, Joseph Bruno, Linda Harang, Stephen Murray, and George Roux
Notice of Hearing—August 5, 2021.
Judge D. Nicole Sheppard, the Judge who is now presiding over this Class Action, has set a date and time for the hearing on our Motion for Summary Judgment.
Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Time: 9:30 AM
Place: Civil District Court, Orleans Parish Division J
You are not required to attend the hearing. If you want to attend, and Covid protocols will allow you to attend, you are welcome to do so.
We are not sending a letter or written notice of the date/time for the hearing to the Class members. This information on each of our websites is the only notice you will receive of the hearing date and time.
You can find this information about the hearing on the websites of: Law Offices of Warren A. “Chip” Forstall, The Bagneris Firm, Bruno & Bruno, and The Murray Law Firm.
We will send a letter to each eligible Class member when the Court issues a final Judgment on the Motion.
Thank you,
Linda S. Harang, Plaintiff’s Liaison Counsel (504) 297-1215 | lharang@chipforstall.com
Class Counsel,
Suzette P. Bagneris, Joseph M. Bruno, Stephen B. Murray, George J. G. Roux