Tzakis v. Maine Township

Summary

The court held that the abolition of the public duty rule does not apply retroactively to this longstanding flooding litigation because defendants relied on the prior rule and retroactive application would produce substantial inequity. Applying the preexisting rule, the court upheld dismissal of the plaintiffs’ negligence-related claims because the defendants owed duties to the public at large, not to the individual plaintiffs. The court also held that the complaint failed to allege that the flooding was an intended or foreseeable result of authorized governmental action sufficient to state a takings claim, and it affirmed the circuit court’s dismissal.