Senate Bill 0028

    Florida Senate - 1999        (NP)                        SB 28

    By Senator Campbell





    33-42A-99

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Lake Wales Housing

  3         Authority; providing for the relief of Joyce

  4         Howard for injuries and damages sustained due

  5         to the negligence of the housing authority;

  6         providing an effective date.

  7

  8         WHEREAS, on July 10, 1995, Ms. Joyce Howard sustained

  9  severe injuries when she slipped on a loose stair cover inside

10  her apartment at the Sunrise Park Apartments in Lake Wales,

11  Florida, and

12         WHEREAS, the Sunrise Park Apartments are owned and

13  operated by the Lake Wales Housing Authority (hereinafter, the

14  LWHA), a public corporation insured by a self-insured risk

15  pool authorized by Florida statute, and

16         WHEREAS, prior to the date of her accident, Ms. Howard

17  had repeatedly informed the LWHA maintenance supervisor that

18  her staircase had some loose stair covers that needed to be

19  repaired, and

20         WHEREAS, Norman Jones, who was the maintenance

21  supervisor for the LWHA at the time of the accident, testified

22  at trial that he had requested work orders authorizing the

23  repair of Joyce Howard's stairs and was denied those work

24  orders by the administration of the housing authority, and

25         WHEREAS, the LWHA denied the existence of such

26  requests, but a report by the federal Department of Housing

27  and Urban Development revealed that the work-order system in

28  place at the time of Ms. Howard's accident was inadequate, and

29         WHEREAS, Ms. Howard's injuries were so severe that she

30  still suffers from permanent neurological problems and is

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999        (NP)                        SB 28
    33-42A-99




  1  totally disabled and unable to obtain and maintain employment,

  2  and

  3         WHEREAS, a jury awarded Ms. Howard damages in the

  4  amount of $659,886.91, but the amount was reduced to

  5  $197,966.07, because the jury attributed 70 percent negligence

  6  to Ms. Howard and 30 percent negligence to the LWHA, and

  7         WHEREAS, after set-offs for collateral sources were

  8  applied, judgment was entered in the amount of $178,883.41,

  9  and

10         WHEREAS, after the LWHA pays the statutory limit of

11  $100,000, the amount of damages that remains unpaid will be

12  $78,883.41 plus costs, NOW, THEREFORE,

13

14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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16         Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this

17  act are found and declared to be true.

18         Section 2.  The Lake Wales Housing Authority is

19  authorized and directed to compensate Joyce Howard in the

20  amount of $78,883.41 plus costs, out of funds of the Lake

21  Wales Housing Authority not otherwise allocated, for injuries

22  and damages sustained as a result of the negligence of the

23  housing authority.

24         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

25  law.

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