Senate Bill sb0024

    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                        SB 24

    By Senator Hill





    1-13-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Escambia County; providing

  3         for the relief of Patricia Stolfi; authorizing

  4         and directing the Escambia County Utilities

  5         Authority to compensate Ms. Stolfi for personal

  6         injuries that she suffered due to the

  7         negligence of an employee of the utilities

  8         authority; providing for attorney's fees and

  9         costs; providing an effective date.

10  

11         WHEREAS, at approximately 11:45 p.m. on October 9,

12  1997, Patricia Stolfi, driving a 1996 Geo, was returning to

13  her home from work, traveling west on Bellview Road, a

14  two-lane road, in Escambia County, and

15         WHEREAS, an employee of the Escambia County Utilities

16  Authority was collecting garbage on an unnamed, two-lane,

17  paved road that intersected Bellview Road, and

18         WHEREAS, the driver of the garbage truck, in order to

19  exit the unnamed road, backed out into Bellview Road, and

20         WHEREAS, as a result of backing out, the garbage truck

21  blocked both lanes of Bellview Road, and

22         WHEREAS, all safety lights on the garbage truck were

23  positioned on the truck at an angle, preventing Ms. Stolfi

24  from seeing the safety lights, and

25         WHEREAS, Ms. Stolfi did not see the garbage truck in

26  the darkness until she was approximately 64 feet from the

27  truck, and

28         WHEREAS, despite her efforts to stop, Ms. Stolfi was

29  unable to stop her vehicle and collided with the garbage truck

30  as it blocked Bellview Road, and

31  

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






    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                        SB 24
    1-13-04




 1         WHEREAS, as a result of the accident, Ms. Stolfi

 2  suffered severe injuries, including a mid-shaft femur

 3  fracture, a right radius ulna fracture, and a near amputation

 4  of her right hand, and

 5         WHEREAS, Ms. Stolfi required a long course of medical

 6  treatment and surgery, including insertion of a

 7  intra-medullary rod into her right leg; skin graphs; various

 8  surgical procedures to her right hand; and closed manipulation

 9  of the right shoulder, elbow, and wrist, and

10         WHEREAS, those injuries necessitated extensive medical

11  treatment, rehabilitation, and restorative treatments, and Ms.

12  Stolfi expects further medical procedures in the future, and

13         WHEREAS, as a result of the injuries to her hand, Ms.

14  Stolfi can no longer perform her current occupation as a

15  seamstress nor that of a medical transcriptionist for which

16  she had almost completed her training, and

17         WHEREAS, after litigation relating to this accident was

18  commenced in Escambia County, a jury, on August 30, 2001,

19  rendered a verdict against the Escambia County Utilities

20  Authority and for Ms. Stolfi in the amount of $2,747,000, and

21         WHEREAS, the jury, after considering comparative

22  negligence, apportioned 95 percent of the fault to the

23  Escambia County Utilities Authority and 5 percent to Ms.

24  Stolfi, resulting in a final judgment of $2,480,889 entered

25  against the utility authority, and

26         WHEREAS, the Escambia County Utilities Authority

27  appealed the final judgment to the First District Court of

28  Appeals, which final judgment was affirmed, per curiam, by

29  that court on April 11, 2003, and

30  

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    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                        SB 24
    1-13-04




 1         WHEREAS, the Escambia County Utilities Authority has

 2  tendered to Ms. Stolfi the sum of $100,000, which is the

 3  statutory limit on waivers of sovereign immunity, and

 4         WHEREAS, at the time of the accident, the Escambia

 5  County Utilities Authority was insured for general liability

 6  by Coregis Insurance Company for $1.1 million, but the company

 7  has not offered Ms. Stolfi the policy limits, and

 8         WHEREAS, Ms. Stolfi is, therefore, petitioning the

 9  Legislature for further reimbursement in the amount of

10  $2,380,889, NOW, THEREFORE,

11  

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

13  

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

15  act are found and declared to be true.

16         Section 2.  The Escambia County Utilities Authority is

17  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the

18  county not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in the

19  amount of $2,380,889, which amount includes statutory

20  attorney's fees and costs, payable to Patricia Stolfi as

21  compensation for injuries and damages sustained by Ms. Stolfi

22  as a result of the negligence of an employee of the utilities

23  authority.

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

25  law.

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