The Long Island Power Authority and National Grid cannot weasel out of an $80 million lawsuit filed by Breezy Point residents whose homes were burned to the ground by electrical fires during Hurricane Sandy, a Queens judge has ruled.
In a decision handed down Wednesday, Justice Bernice Siegal denied the motion to dismiss the suit by the utility companies, which argued that they were entitled to governmental immunity.
“Clearly, the transmission of electricity by LIPA and National Grid is a proprietary act, not governmental,” the judge wrote.
Keith Sullivan, an attorney for the 120 plaintiffs in the suit, hailed the decision, calling his clients “innocent victims.”
The suit contends LIPA and National Grid failed to “de-energize” the Rockaway Peninsula in the critical hours before the storm hit.