On May 21, 2025 Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs, successfully obtained summary judgment dismissing the City of Hackensack (“City”) from a nearly $2 million lawsuit filed by a commercial tenant that suffered equipment and other damage from flooding during Tropical Storm Ida in 2021.

Plaintiff, a printing business in a designated flood zone in the City, alleged in a Complaint filed in 2022 that the City failed to maintain inlets, sewer lines and pump station equipment that allegedly could have limited or prevented the flooding during Ida and on other dates, and that the City’s actions constituted a nuisance. In addition to damages, the lawsuit sought injunctive relief mandating improvements to the City’s sewer infrastructure.

Following extensive discovery, the City filed a motion for summary judgment. Bergen County Superior Court Judge David V. Nasta, J.S.C. determined that the City did not act palpably unreasonably and was entitled to the immunities established by the New Jersey Tort Claims Act for governmental entities. The Court further accepted the City’s argument that allowing this claim to proceed to trial would place the financial stability of municipalities at risk, given the potentially massive exposure that could result from a major flooding incident.  

Mary Anne Groh, Esq. litigated the case for the City in consultation with Steven W. Kleinman, Esq. of the Firm.