NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana has joined a group of neighbors in a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco, alleging that the city’s negligent infrastructure handling caused sewage damage to their homes during recent storms.
Residents began demanding that the city make restitution in June, but now they are cooperating in a lawsuit to force the issue, according to Fox News.
Residents say that their homes were damaged by sewage backup after the hard rains came through the area at the end of last year. Fifty-eight residents, including Montana and real estate billionaire Victor Makras, claim that the city’s poor infrastructure was at the root of the sewage spills.
“For many years, the city has had actual and constructive knowledge that the sewage and storm drainage system in and around the [Marina Boulevard area] cannot sufficiently handle anticipated conditions and rain events,” the lawsuit says.
Joe Montana attends SiriusXM At Super Bowl LVII on February 09, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
“We don’t only trust the city to maintain the sewage infrastructure, but we pay it for doing so,” added the residents’ attorney, Khaldoun Baghdadi. “When the city makes the decisions that cause raw sewage to flood homes, it is responsible for compensating residents.”
City officials have maintained that the rains that swept the area on New Year’s Eve in 2022 was a historic event, the “strongest” storm in “170 years,” and could not have been anticipated.
“The intensity and duration of the storm that hit the city on Dec. 31, 2022, was almost unprecedented,” said Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for the City Attorney’s Office.
The former San Francisco 49ers star is a two-time NFL MVP winner, a three-time All-Pro, and a three-time Super Bowl MVP. Montana also led the 49ers to a 100-39 regular season record from 1979 to 1992.
Quarterback Joe Montana #16 of the San Francisco 49ers looks to pass against the Kansas City Chiefs as running back Joe Cribbs #28 blocks during a preseason game at Fawcett Stadium at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 8, 1987, in Canton, Ohio. The 49ers defeated the Chiefs 20-7. (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
“Montana is still the team’s all-time passing leader with 35,124 yards. He also finished with 244 touchdown passes thrown,” Fox reported.
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