Senate Bill sb0180

    Florida Senate - 2003                                   SB 180

    By Senator Hill





    1-216-03

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Indian River County

  3         School Board; providing for the relief of Tylor

  4         Griffeth, a minor, by and through Mark Griffeth

  5         and Teresa Griffeth, his parents and natural

  6         guardians; directing the school board to

  7         compensate Tylor Griffeth for personal injuries

  8         caused by the negligence of the school board;

  9         specifying uses of the funds; providing for

10         attorney's fees and costs; providing an

11         effective date.

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13         WHEREAS, on January 25, 1999, 6-year-old Tylor Griffeth

14  was riding home from his elementary school in a school bus

15  owned by the Indian River County School Board and operated by

16  a driver employed by the Indian River County School Board, and

17         WHEREAS, the school bus driver failed to stop at a stop

18  sign and struck a tractor-trailer, resulting in the death of

19  the tractor-trailer driver and one student in the school bus,

20  and in injury to Tylor and other children who were aboard the

21  bus, and

22         WHEREAS, Tylor was treated at the scene, was later

23  taken by ambulance to Sebastian River Medical Center, and

24  subsequently was transferred to the trauma center at Holmes

25  Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Florida, and

26         WHEREAS, his admission diagnosis was a closed-head

27  injury with diplopia (double vision), as well as back and

28  forehead abrasions, and his discharge diagnosis was a possible

29  concussion, and

30         WHEREAS, Tylor's general physician provided followup

31  care and later referred Tylor to physical therapy to reduce

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    Florida Senate - 2003                                   SB 180
    1-216-03




 1  his cervical pain and headaches and to the Bascom Palmer Eye

 2  Institute for ongoing visual problems, and

 3         WHEREAS, Dr. Brad Simmons of the eye institute

 4  diagnosed a sixth-nerve palsy in Tylor's left eye secondary to

 5  trauma, and a subsequent examination again demonstrated an

 6  abduction deficit in the left eye, and

 7         WHEREAS, Tylor underwent a second evaluation, performed

 8  by Dr. Paul Carney of the Neurology Department at Shands

 9  Teaching Hospital, because of his history of a concussion with

10  continuing visual problems and his complaints that objects

11  appeared smaller in the left eye and that he was experiencing

12  problems focusing and having occasional headaches, and

13         WHEREAS, Dr. Carney diagnosed a post-concussive

14  syndrome for which he recommended monitoring in the future,

15  and

16         WHEREAS, as a result of Tylor's injuries, his parents

17  incurred $14,813.71 in medical bills, and Mrs. Griffeth lost a

18  considerable amount of time from her employment to care for

19  her son and take him to doctors' appointments, and

20         WHEREAS, more than 3 years after the accident, Tylor is

21  still experiencing symptoms from his injuries which are

22  indicative of the permanent nature of his condition, and

23         WHEREAS, the Indian River County School Board was

24  placed on the appropriate statutory notice, and a lawsuit was

25  filed on April 16, 2001, and

26         WHEREAS, the school board has already paid the

27  statutory limit under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, for

28  claims or judgments arising out of the same incident or

29  occurrence, and

30         WHEREAS, the attorneys for the parties performed

31  appropriate discovery, which resulted in an agreement whereby

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    Florida Senate - 2003                                   SB 180
    1-216-03




 1  the Indian River County School Board agreed to pay Mark

 2  Griffeth and Teresa Griffeth, as parents and natural guardians

 3  of Tylor Griffeth, $40,000 subject to a successful claim bill,

 4  NOW, THEREFORE,

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

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

 9  act are found and declared to be true.

10         Section 2.  The Indian River County School Board is

11  directed to compensate Mark Griffeth and Teresa Griffeth, as

12  parents and natural guardians of Tylor Griffeth, a minor, in

13  the amount of $40,000 for injuries and damages caused by the

14  negligence of the school board. After payment of statutory

15  attorney's fees and costs, the balance shall be paid into a

16  Special Needs Trust Fund established for Tylor Griffeth.

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

18  law.

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