Victims of government negligence often can’t collect jury awards
Jul 17, 2011
The following article was published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel on July 17, 2011:
Victims of government negligence often can’t collect jury awards
By Tony Alanez
It’s been nine years since a Hollywood city utility truck crashed head on into self-employed landscaper Ronald Miller, leaving him in chronic pain with neck and knee injuries.
Although a jury awarded him $1.2 million in 2006, he can’t collect more than $100,000 without approval by state lawmakers. But the politically-charged process often means victims of government negligence also become victims of legislative infighting. In the last session that ended May 7, only three of 30 such claims were approved — fewer than 2010 when seven of 20 were approved, but greater than 2005 and 2006, when not a single claim passed.
Ashraf Kamel, of Lake Worth, has been through the same thing. Eight times so far.
His 13-year-old son, Jean Pierre Kamel, was fatally gunned down in 1997 by another student in front of Conniston Middle School in West Palm Beach. A jury awarded Kamel and his now ex-wife, Marguerite Dimitri, $2 million, saying the school board was negligent since the two students had a documented history of problems.
In 2003, Kamel’s parents each collected $100,000 – the maximum allowed at that time under sovereign immunity, a principal designed to protect governments from large damage rulings. In 2010, the limits were raised from $100,000 to $200,000, but the figures are not retroactive.
“It’s a terrible system,” said Kamel, 52, who has agreed every year since 2005 to settle for an additional $360,000. “They’re dragging it on. This is the jury’s decision. I thought there was going to be justice. This is a rip-off the way I look at it.”
Even some of those once involved in the process agree.
“It’s an unpredictable, arbitrary and capricious process that is in need of reform,” said former state Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who sponsored about 12 claims bills over eight years. “You have to do everything right and even if you do…you still may not get relief.”
Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, said he traditionally votes against claims bills and believes the system is designed to protect taxpayers. Even so, he said the “very frustrating process” needs to “be redone. We’ve had several conversations about it, but nobody’s come up with a workable situation yet. It’s a tough issue. Trying to find that happy medium is very, very difficult.”
Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, who has sponsored about five claims bills over the last 12 years, says the players, timing and media attention are crucial.
“Claims bills are so hard, unless it’s a very sensational case and you get the right people behind it,” Smith said. “Do you have the right sponsor of the bill? Is he or she on the wrong side of leadership this year? Will your issue be horse traded for another issue?”
Eric Brody’s claim, most say, is a prime example of one sacrificed to gamesmanship in the 2011 session.
Brody, of Sunrise, was partially paralyzed and severely brain damaged 13 years ago. A Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy, late to work after visiting a girlfriend, slammed his police cruiser into the high school senior as he drove home from his part time job at the Sawgrass Mills Sports Authority.
Brody, now 31, was seeking $12 million of a $30.7 million jury award for lifetime care.
In the final hours of session, as the House and Senate came to a stalemate over tax breaks, deregulations and budget bills, Brody’s claim – which had passed the Senate by a 29-3 vote — got snubbed by House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park.
Claims bills do not roll over from one year to the next. They must be re-filed, re-lobbied, re-scrutinized.
Already, Brody’s claims bill for the 2012 legislative session is in the works by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington.
And Hollywood commissioners on July 6 voted – for a second time — to approve Miller’s settlement. They had fought the original jury award but agreed to his revised offer of a $100,000 claim. Funding is available in the self insurance fund, according to city documents.
Miller, meanwhile, is unable to make ends meet with his solo business Ron’s Lawn Service.
“It’s failing,” said Miller. “I can’t keep up with it the way I used to.”
He said the initial $100,000 he received helped pay for medical expenses, legal fees and bills accumulated while he was unable to work. “I owe money all over town,” Miller said. “I don’t even have a cell phone. I can’t even afford one right now.”
The “ecstatic” energy he said he felt when he won his day in court has given way to cynicism.
“When you hear a number like that, you get very high aspirations of what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. I made plans. I made promises. I did what people do when they think they’re going to get that kind of money,” Miller said. “But it never came.”
Find this article here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-sovereign-immunity-stalls-claims-20110717,0,7483816.story