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Don’t Fool With Old Ladies. The Frozen Hose Case. Mother and Daughter Olech’s Upon Learning of Their Victory Over the Village . The Preliminaries. The Village installs a drainage culvert near the Olech’s that causes flooding on the property The Olech’s sue the Village for flood damage
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The Frozen Hose Case Mother and Daughter Olech’s Upon Learning of Their Victory Over the Village
The Preliminaries • The Village installs a drainage culvert near the Olech’s that causes flooding on the property • The Olech’s sue the Village for flood damage • In the meantime, the Village undertakes a project to bring municipal water to the area so the residents can disconnect from water wells • Grace pays $9,300 – her share of the project
Now Comes the Village • A month later the Villages asks for a 33’ easement in addition to the payment • The Village hoped to install a road and other public utilities • The easement is more than twice the customary 15’ asked from everyone else in the Village • Grace tells the Village to Take a Walk
The Plot Thickens • The Olech’s well fails • They run a “garden hose” across the street to the neighbor to pump water • The Village relents and accepts the 15’ easement and begins the project in November of 1995 • The hose freezes • They are without water until the project is finished – March 1996
The Attorney’s Earn Their Fee • Grace files suit in U.S. District Court in April 1998 • “Willowbrook picked on her out of sheer vindictiveness to grant a 33’ easement when it only required 15’ from other residents. They retaliated because they were mad at me for suing them” • The District Court dismissed the case – lack of proof of harassment by Village
The Appeals Court Rules • Court of Appeals reversed finding of “Ill will” on the part of the Village • “If the power of the government is brought to bear on a harmless individual …. The individual ought to have a remedy in federal court”
Harmless Individual? Somehow I get the feeling that Mrs. Olech is anything but harmless
Now the Supreme Court • The Supreme Court grants review and although they did not reach the same ill will conclusion they did find for the “Widow Olech” • “The purpose of the equal protection clause is to secure every person within the State’s jurisdiction against intentional and arbitrary discrimination”
The Conclusion • A person – a class of one – can sue for equal protection claims even if they are not a member of a protected classification The Village Leadership fells somewhat like an
