Palos Verdes Residents Sue City of Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, L.A. County and Others Alleging Inverse Condemnation, Negligence, Dangerous Condition and More

Palos Verdes, CA – Attorneys from ACTS LAW filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging inverse condemnation, negligence and other failures from utilities, contractors and several municipalities led to the landslides that have continually plagued residents over the last two years.

Several residents in Palos Verdes who are directly impacted by the well-publicized landslides filed the lawsuit to hold accountable those entities and municipalities they allege are responsible for this disaster. 

The defendants in the lawsuit include:

• California Water Service Company
• City of Rancho Palos Verdes
• City of Rolling Hills
• Doty Bros Equipment Co.
• Klondike Canyon Geologic Hazard Abatement District
• Los Angeles County
• Rolling Hills Community Association of Rancho Palos Verdes,

According to the complaint, the residents allege the failure of these entities to properly act led to water from several sources combining to cause oversaturation and acceleration of landslides in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes (including the Klondike Canyon Landslide). The actions or failures to act by each of these entities were substantial factors in causing landslide acceleration and the resulting damage to the homes and lives of the residents.

The following are some of the allegations laid out in the lawsuit:

Klondike Canyon Geological Hazard Abatement District (or KCLAD) has never been adequately funded, insured or staffed, that the scope of KCLAD’s responsibilities has never been clearly defined, and that the City of Rancho Palos Verdes appointed all of KCLAD members. The residents allege the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and/or KCLAD knew or should have known that their infrastructure posed danger if it did not fulfill its function of landslide monitoring and abatement.

The private stormwater sewers and drains in Rolling Hills Community do not conform to industry standards, nor are they reasonably sufficient to manage storm water runoff.  The lawsuit alleges the risk of landslide acceleration due to excess water and wastewater being released into the land below the Rolling Hills Community was so obvious, RHCA and/o City of Rolling Hills knew and should have known that it existed and that it constituted a dangerous condition of their property. 

Cal Water owned, developed, constructed or managed the water distribution system and associated infrastructure in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in the landslide area. In addition, Doty Bros. has been a subcontractor for Cal Water, charged with repairing and/or maintaining Cal Water’s failing infrastructure, including addressing water leaks in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, and in the area surrounding the homes of the plaintiffs. The lawsuit alleges that in breach of those duties, Doty Bros. caused excess water from ruptured pipes and other water infrastructure to enter the landslide, by taking unduly long time to shut down mainlines following a rupture, to perform the repairs and/or maintenance, and by using repair and/or maintenance methods and practices which violate construction industry standards. Cal Water and Doty Bros.’ actions and failures to act are a substantial factor in causing the landslide to accelerate and are a substantial factor in causing Plaintiffs’ damages.

Among the further allegations in the complaint include those against Los Angeles County alleging the County had a duty to warn the public, including these residents, of the impending danger of (i) excess storm water overwhelming the LA Flood Control System; (i) excess wastewater and sewage from the deteriorated, defective and/or damaged LA Public Sewer System’s infrastructure entering the landslide, and, (iii) of the health hazard posed by pathogens present in untreated sewage released into the environment around their homes.

“Every one of these named defendants is aware that an ancient landslide lies below these homes.  Indeed, the public entities have commissioned multiple studies over the years, on how to prevent water from entering the hillside, in order to prevent a catastrophic failure.  Unfortunately, the defendants have failed to implement any of these proposed mitigation measures.  Residents of these communities are now losing their homes due to the failure of these defendants to implement any of the proposed mitigation measures,” said Terry Bailey, partner at ACTS LAW. 

The case is Connie Andersen et al. v. California Water Service Company, City of Rancho Palos Verdes, City of Rolling Hills, Doty Bros Equipment Co., Klondike Canyon Geologic Hazard Abatement District, Los Angeles County, Rolling Hills Community Association of Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. 24STCV20953.

About ACTS LAW

Founded by four premier trial attorneys, ACTS LAW handles high-stakes litigation in the areas of major property damage, including landslides and construction defects, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, insurance bad faith, employment law, business litigation and much more. With more than three-dozen attorneys and 100+ staff members throughout Southern California, the firm’s legal team has been recognized by Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the Daily Journal, Super Lawyers and others as being top trial attorneys.