Only Official Fired Over Flint Crisis Seeks Reinstatement, Financial Compensation
Years after a state of emergency was declared over lead contamination in the drinking water of Flint, Michigan, and well into the city’s efforts to replace its outdated infrastructure and properly compensate victims, a state official tied to the saga is seeking reinstatement and back pay.
“The only Michigan official fired in the Flint water disaster wants to be reinstated and get years of back pay after a criminal charge against her fizzled into a misdemeanor that was ultimately erased,” Crain’s Detroit Business reported. “Liane Shekter Smith and the state’s environment department are meeting privately … with an arbitrator, more than five years after then-Gov. Rick Synder dismissed her in 2016.”
Shekter Smith led Michigan’s office of drinking water when Flint switched its source water to the Flint River, which caused erosion of its lead pipes and began leeching the contaminant at dangerous levels in drinking water. The state approved this switch and it ultimately led to widespread contamination.
“In 2016, a task force appointed by Snyder said the Department of Environmental Quality, as [Shekter Smith’s] agency was known at the time, misapplied lead and copper rules in Flint and ‘caused this crisis to happen,’” per Crain’s. “Shekter Smith was subsequently charged with misconduct in office and neglect of duty, and put on notice that an involuntary manslaughter charge would be pursued.”
But the charges were ultimately dropped and the case was erased as Shekter Smith cooperated with investigators. Her attorney has argued that criminal charges were not appropriate, and she has filed court documents arguing that her punishment was unjust, though she has not commented on her latest arguments regarding reinstatement.
“She filed a grievance shortly after she was dismissed from her $135,000-a-year job,” per WDRB. “In her grievance, Shekter Smith claimed her right to due process was violated when she was fired ‘without a full and fair investigation.’”
Since that firing, Snyder has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. And Michigan has agreed to pay more than $600 million to compensate consumers.
To read more about how water systems deal with lead contamination, visit Water Online’s Lead And Copper Rule (LCR) Solutions Center.