Kevin Kolbe couldn't get a shower with soap for at least a week after a forklift driver purposely lifted a porta-potty up and down with him inside, splashing him with its contents, he says.
Kolbe, 59, of Saginaw, Michigan, is homeless. And he's now filed a lawsuit against the company that employed that forklift operator. The company has described the situation in a different manner, stating the forklift driver didn't know Kolbe was in there, he was never raised and there was no evidence of him being splashed.
Kolbe filed the lawsuit on Nov. 4 in Saginaw County Circuit Court against the Fisher Contracting Co., alleging battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress following the interaction with the forklift driver in August.
The hope is that people and big companies realize they can't treat others poorly, Kolbe told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.
"I just want people to realize, just 'cause I was homeless – I was still a human being," he said.
In an emailed statement, attorney Brian Rush of Fisher Companies highlighted that the park where the incident took place − Saginaw's Ojibway Island, where the crew was contracted to work on erosion concerns − was closed and said there were warning signs indicating the area was unsafe.
He also said the porta-potty was just cleaned, hadn't yet been used, and Kolbe's clothes were dry when he exited.
"We were surprised and disappointed to read the claims in Mr. Kolbe's lawsuit and look forward to sharing what really happened in a court of law," he said.
Kolbe's description of the encounter, as told in the lawsuit and an interview, frames the incident as cruel and intentional.
When things couldn't get worse
Kolbe's 19-year-old son died of a brain tumor in February 2025, he said. Kolbe was living with a former significant other and their shared children at the time, but amid the mental toll – going off the "deep end," he said − Kolbe moved out to clear his head. He has since been couch surfing, sleeping outside and sometimes staying at that former significant other's home.
He was sleeping under a bridge near Saginaw's Ojibway Island around the time of the porta-potty encounter, he said. He could see the porta-potty on the island, and on Aug. 13, he needed to use the bathroom urgently.
He took his bike – with returnable cans rattling and blankets stashed in an attached child carrier – over to use the bathroom, he said. He heard some workers yelling at him before he got into the restroom, but he said he didn't see anything suggesting the porta-potty was for private use. It looked like others around the city. He could not wait.
The workers sought to teach Kolbe a lesson, the lawsuit states.
While Kolbe was inside, a worker positioned one of the prongs of the forklift under the porta-potty and lifted Kolbe up and down, according to the lawsuit. The porta-potty, unstable in that position, rocked back and forth before eventually tipping back against a tree.
The lawsuit describes Kolbe at one point opening the door to see what was happening, and the worker operating the forklift telling him to "Get the (expletive) out of our porta-potty."
Kolbe couldn't believe it was happening, he said. It didn't seem like his life could get worse from what it'd been.
The porta-potty chemicals – and whatever waste was in it – hit the seated Kolbe, even splashing up his back, Kolbe said. He didn't have the chance to wipe himself before getting out.
Workers laughed and heckled him afterward, according to the lawsuit.
A different description
No other workers were nearby when the incident occurred, and they didn't come up from their riverbank work area to taunt Kolbe, said Rush of Fisher Companies.
Employees were moving 40-foot-long sheet pilings from the immediate work area to the riverbank, and all but one were several hundred feet away when the incident with the forklift occurred, he said.
The singular worker realized that the porta-potty was in the way, inserted forks from the loader into the structure to move it, and was startled when Kolbe exited, Rush said. The worker immediately stopped moving the loader.
"The unit was never lifted off the ground. Mr. Kolbe's clothes were dry when he exited the portable toilet," Rush said.
Out of concern for Kolbe, a foreman escorted him safely beyond the construction site and waited with him.
One area that Fisher Contracting and Kolbe appeared to agree on: Kolbe called the police, but they didn't show up.
Kolbe said they didn't show up in the two hours he waited for them. Rush said a worker waited with Kolbe for over an hour for police.
Saginaw Deputy Police Chief Matthew Gerow said officers went but did not find Kolbe at the appointed meeting spot. He said Kolbe was later made aware he could file a police report, but has not done so. Gerow said a probe by city officials into its contractor indicated the contractor denied the allegations.
The company posted its version of the story in a post on Facebook in September after news stations in the Saginaw area first reported Kolbe's story. In the post, the company expressed regret for the situation and concern for Kolbe, saying he was "understandably, he was upset" after the forks were inserted.
"(There) was no evidence that liquid was spilled or splashed onto the person involved or inside the restroom," the company stated, later adding: "We are reviewing our procedures to make sure an incident like this cannot happen again, and remain committed to protecting both our crews and the surrounding community."
Mental anguish and embarrassment
Later on the day of the porta-potty use, Kolbe went to his ex-significant other and children's home, but found no one was there, he said. He used an outdoor hose to clean up a bit and put on some laundered clothes that had been left out for him.
It's hard for Kolbe to explain how the next week felt without a real shower with soap, he said.
Physically, he was itchy and didn't feel good. Mentally, he felt like an animal that had been defecated on, he said.
Eventually, a friend helped him with access to a shower, he said.
Since speaking out through the news media, he's felt embarrassed, he said. He lost teeth due to diabetes, and people he used to know are now seeing the shape he's in. His kids hear comments at school about him being that "homeless guy" who experienced this.
He's set to be placed in housing any day now, he said at the time of the Free Press interview. He doesn't feel he would have been treated like this if he'd been someone else, better dressed perhaps.
Whether the porta-potty may have been private or whether the island was closed for construction isn't pertinent, said one of his Saginaw-based attorneys, Kevin Kelly. It doesn't make abuse OK. It comes down to basic human decency.
"It's like kicking someone while they're down," Kelly said.
Kolbe put it like this: "You've got to treat people how you want to be treated," he said.
Kolbe is seeking a trial by jury and a judgment in excess of $25,000.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press:'Still a human being': Homeless man sues over porta-potty incident
