This website is dedicated to providing updates to our clients involved in the potential class action lawsuit against the Bay County Sheriff’s Department related to the events during and after Hurricane Michael.
This website is the appropriate place to seek updates on the case – due to the large number of people involved in this case, it is difficult to give individual updates over the telephone. You can certainly call the office for updates but please try to rely on this website for updates.
In order to check whether you are an included member of this lawsuit, click on Participants on the side menu. If you do not see your name, you may fill out an intake form and a short questionnaire which can be found under Questionnaire in the side menu.
If your contact information has changed, please click Questionnaire to update your contact information for our records. We will utilize the updated information to maintain contact with our clients and continue to strive to keep you informed as to the progress of your case. Thank you!
2/16/2024
Finally, the judge has allowed your claims to move forward. I am thrilled. We are going to set up a communication system likely through this or another website that will be private for the Plaintiffs only. Congratulations. The Order is attached. Things will move a lot more quickly from this point forward.
You can view the Order to Dismiss
HERE.
12/12/2023
Our case is still in Federal Court, and the Sheriff’s Office has filed yet another Motion to Dismiss. We responded to their Motion on 11/30 and await another hearing date. We will update accordingly. Keep the faith, as we work diligently to advance your case. Again there has been no discussion of any settlement.
6/23/2023
Your case with both state and federal claims is back in Federal Court. The Sheriff’s Office has filed a Motion to Dismiss and we have responded. We are just waiting on the Judge to rule and I’ll update after he has issued his ruling. Should be within the next several weeks.
2/27/2023
We originally filed a state case only as a class action alleging negligence. I was concerned that the cap on damages may adversely affect all of you, meaning that there may have been a $300,000.00 cap on the claims which means that collectively, you may not have been able to recover more than this cap. Because of that concern, I filed an amended complaint that includes federal claims that don’t have the $300,000 cap. The Sheriff’s Office removed that case to federal court- which is standard after a federal claim is added- but your case has to return to state court momentarily in order for the state judge to approve the amended complaint with the federal claims. It will be removed again at that point to federal court, expected within the next 20 days, and that is when everything will really start to happen. There are class certification requirements to get the class certified that will be first and then discovery on the horror you experienced during and after Hurricane Michael. Its taken us a while to get where we are and have had multiple hearings. We are just around the corner to making real movement and I’ll post monthly on the first of every month hereafter. Hope you are all well.
3/31/2022
Great news! We prevailed on the most recent motion for reconsideration meaning that we are now moving forward. Previously, the judge denied the Sheriff’s Motion to Dismiss and then our new judge denied the reconsideration of that motion. We are now moving forward towards class certification to determine the similarities in how you were all adversely affected by the hurricane. You can expect another update on our progress the first week of May, via the website and our text/email notice.
Again, we are still in the early stages of this lawsuit, and the wheels sometimes seem to move quite slowly but we are working hard to keep this moving quickly – there have been no discussions of settlement and the end of the case is still a long way off, but we have conquered this important first step. Be assured we will continue to do all that we can to represent your interests.
2/3/2022
Hi, this is Marie Mattox with the promised update on the progress of your lawsuit. We recently had a hearing on Defendant’s third Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit, and an Order has been issued in our favor – it’s attached here for your review. The Sheriff’s Office, however, has filed a Motion for Reconsideration, asking the Court to review the ruling, and the hearing on that Motion is scheduled for March 18, 2022. I’ll let you know the outcome and hopefully this will be the last time that the Sheriff’s Office has an opportunity to try to knock your claims out of court.
Please continue being patient and know that my firm and I are working hard to advance your claims.
8/11/2021
Hi, this is Marie Mattox with the promised update on the progress of your lawsuit. After our most recent hearing, I filed an Amended Complaint (the original document in a lawsuit, which explains what we are suing for) and again, the Sheriff’s Office has filed a Motion to Dismiss. This turn of events is exceedingly frustrating and I am in the process of requesting the Court to sanction the Defendant for once again bringing up the same arguments we just had at our most recent hearing. We will be scheduling another hearing on both my motion and the Defendant’s and I will publish more information as it becomes available.
Please continue being patient and know that my firm and I are working hard to advance your claims.
6/1/2021
On June 1, 2021, the Judge entered an Order dismissing our Second Amended Complaint with leave to amend – what this means is that we will be filing a Third Amended Complaint. It does NOT mean that the case is over, and it does not mean that the case has been settled. This lawsuit is in its early stages, and any expectation of settlement is premature; there is much work and investigation to be done. Please be assured that we are working hard to further the case on your behalf.
The Third Amended Complaint is due on June 20, 2021 and I expect we will know more in mid to late July 2021. Any news pertinent to the lawsuit will be posted here – you can expect another update around the end of July.