Senate Bill sb0006
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Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SB 6
By Senator Lawson
6-3-04
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to Escambia County; providing
3 for the relief of Bronwen Dodd; authorizing and
4 directing the District School Board of Escambia
5 County to compensate Ms. Dodd for personal
6 injuries that she suffered due to the
7 negligence of an employee of the school board;
8 providing for attorney's fees and costs;
9 providing an effective date.
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11 WHEREAS, on the afternoon of March 24, 1997, an
12 automobile-school bus accident occurred at the intersection of
13 Summit Boulevard and Goya Drive in Escambia County, and
14 WHEREAS, Ms. Bronwen Dodd was driving a 1988 Honda
15 eastwardly on Summit Boulevard, and a driver employed by the
16 Escambia County School Board was driving the school bus
17 westwardly on Summit Boulevard, and
18 WHEREAS, the driver of the school bus had stopped and
19 turned left in order to go south on Goya Drive, and
20 WHEREAS, as the school bus was turning south onto Goya,
21 it struck Ms. Dodd's Honda, causing that vehicle to collide
22 with another car that was stopped on Goya Drive, and
23 WHEREAS, a court subsequently found that the driver of
24 the school bus violated the right-of-way in making the turn,
25 and
26 WHEREAS, as a result of the accident, Ms. Dodd suffered
27 severe injuries, including: a closed-head injury (with loss of
28 consciousness); basilar skull, temporal, and sinus fractures;
29 a fractured mandible; cranial nerve injury; significant dental
30 injuries with multiple avulsions of her left incisor, her left
31 medial incisor, maxillary teeth, and canines; bilateral
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Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SB 6
6-3-04
1 pneumothoraces; a punctured lower lip; a lacerated tongue;
2 multiple lacerations to her arm, face, and lower extremities;
3 and optical and auditory damage, and
4 WHEREAS, those injuries necessitated extensive medical
5 treatment, rehabilitation, and restorative treatments, and
6 WHEREAS, litigation relating to this accident was begun
7 and, after two unsuccessful attempts at mediation, both
8 parties agreed to participate in binding arbitration, which
9 took place on December 18, 2000, and
10 WHEREAS, on December 20, 2000, the arbitration panel
11 awarded Ms. Dodd $275,000, which did not include any award for
12 past medical expenses, and
13 WHEREAS, after the arbitrators assessed 20 percent
14 negligence to Ms. Dodd, her award was reduced to $220,000, and
15 WHEREAS, a final judgment in the amount of $340,999.75
16 was entered against the Escambia County School Board on May
17 21, 1999, and
18 WHEREAS, the school board will pay to Ms. Dodd the sum
19 of $100,000, which is the statutory limit on waivers of
20 sovereign immunity, and Ms. Dodd is, therefore, petitioning
21 the Legislature for further reimbursement in the amount of
22 $240,999.75, NOW, THEREFORE,
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24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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26 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this
27 act are found and declared to be true.
28 Section 2. The District School Board of Escambia
29 County is authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of
30 the county not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in
31 the amount of $240,999.75, which amount includes statutory
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2004 (NP) SB 6
6-3-04
1 attorney's fees and costs, payable to Bronwen Dodd as
2 compensation for injuries and damages sustained by Ms. Dodd as
3 a result of the negligence of an employee of the school board.
4 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
5 law.
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