Michigan court uproots part of verdict in favor of gardener whose organic lawn was killed

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/02/2025 (292 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan court struck down a large chunk of an $88,550 verdict for a Detroit-area organic gardener whose beloved clover lawn was destroyed by a man spraying herbicide — at the wrong address.

Marilyn Mack reported depression, anxiety and random crying after what happened at her Oak Park home in 2020. The appeals court upheld a jury award of $22,400 for harm to the property but erased an additional $66,150 for noneconomic damages.

The court, in a 3-0 opinion, didn’t doubt Mack’s anguish. Rather its conclusion Thursday was a technical one, noting that Michigan law doesn’t allow noneconomic damages on a trespass claim.

Clover is a nuisance to some homeowners. To others, it is a joy. Mack lovingly seeded her lawn with clover and watched it grow while the plant also satisfied bees and other pollinators.

But disaster struck nearly five years ago when an employee with Natural Way lawn service sprayed her lawn with chemicals. He was supposed to spray a neighbor’s property but had relied on GPS and went to the wrong house.

“He shouldn’t have walked on the property,” Mack’s attorney, David Zuppke, told the appeals court. “There’s a longstanding company policy: Look at the address. It’s pretty simple. It’s 15 feet away. The numbers are huge.”

Natural Way’s attorney, Joseph Fraser, declined to comment Friday. In a court filing, he said the jury should not have been allowed to award an additional $66,150 for Mack’s “idiosyncratic attachment to her lawn.”

Mack not only lost her clover lawn but some organic spices, vegetables and strawberries, too, after chemicals drifted elsewhere on her property.

“I could spend every single day in the dirt,” she told the Detroit Free Press in 2023.