Senate Bill sb0024c1

    Florida Senate - 2004                             CS for SB 24

    By the Committee on Comprehensive Planning; and Senator Hill





    316-1528-04

  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, traveling west on Bellview Road, a two-lane road, in

14  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                             CS for SB 24
    316-1528-04




 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, after litigation relating to this accident was

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

15  rendered a verdict against the Escambia County Utilities

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

17         WHEREAS, the jury, after considering comparative

18  negligence, apportioned 95 percent of the fault to the

19  Escambia County Utilities Authority and 5 percent to Ms.

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

21  against the utility authority, and

22         WHEREAS, the Escambia County Utilities Authority

23  appealed the final judgment to the First District Court of

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

25  that court on April 11, 2003, and

26         WHEREAS, the Escambia County Utilities Authority has

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

28  statutory limit on waivers of sovereign immunity, and

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

30  County Utilities Authority was insured for general liability

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    Florida Senate - 2004                             CS for SB 24
    316-1528-04




 1  by Coregis Insurance Company for $1 million, but the company

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

 3         WHEREAS, Escambia County Utilities Authority has paid

 4  to Ms. Stolfi the statutory cap of $100,000 pursuant to

 5  section 768.28(5), Florida Statutes, and

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

 7  Legislature for further reimbursement in the amount of

 8  $2,380,889, NOW, THEREFORE,

 9  

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

11  

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

13  act are found and declared to be true.

14         Section 2.  The Escambia County Utilities Authority is

15  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the

16  authority not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in

17  the amount of $2,380,889, which amount includes statutory

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

19  compensation for injuries and damages sustained by Ms. Stolfi

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

21  authority.

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

23  law.

24  

25          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
26                          Senate Bill 24

27                                 

28  This CS differs from the bill as filed in that it corrects a
    number of facts in the title and body of the bill.
29  

30  

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