S-25-0760 Darryle Bell, Jane Bailey, Romanda Bennett, Michael Coleman, Thomas Contreras, Landzi Cooper, Laiah Edwards, William Gill, Derek Hovendick, Shakina Knight, Delvyn Shockley, Lea Stubblefield, Melvin Usher, and Ethel Williams (Appellants) v. Housing Authority of the City of Omaha (Appellee)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County, Judge Peter C. Bataillon
Attorneys: Justice T. Wayne (Wayne Law for Appellants); Steven P. Wandro and Benjamin G. Arato (Wandro, Kanne & Lalor, P.C. as pro hac vice for Appellants) Jeffery M. Lipman (Lipman Law Firm, P.C. as pro hac vice for Appellants), and Thomas A. Grennan and John Andrew McWilliams (Gross Welch Marks Clare, P.C., L.L.O. for Appellee)
Civil: Action for injunction, breach of contract, and violation of statutory duty
Proceedings below: Appellants filed a suit against Appellees and alleged that Appellees failed to remediate a known bed bug infestation. Appellees filed a motion to dismiss and alleged that Appellants failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The district court dismissed the case because it found that Appellants failed to exhaust administrative remedies under the Nebraska Housing Agency Act (NHAA). On its own motion, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Nebraska Court of Appeals to its docket.
Issues: Appellants assign the following errors: 1) The district court erred in granting Appellee’s motion to dismiss because applying the NHAA to dismiss Appellants’ claims contradicts legislative intent and produces absurd and illogical results; 2) The district court erred in dismissing Appellants’ claims because its interpretation of the NHAA eliminates their right to prompt judicial redress under the URLTA; and 3) The district court erred in granting OHA’s motion to dismiss because neither alternative argument provided grounds for dismissal.