Senate Bill sb0486c1
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Florida Senate - 2007 (NP) CS for SB 486
By the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senator Oelrich
578-2433-07
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the City of Tallahassee;
3 providing for the relief of Sheryl D. Allen and
4 George F. Allen, her husband; providing for an
5 appropriation to compensate them for injuries
6 and damages sustained as a result of an
7 accident involving Sheryl D. Allen and an
8 employee of the City of Tallahassee; providing
9 for a limitation on payment of fees and costs;
10 providing an effective date.
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12 WHEREAS, on December 8, 2001, Sheryl D. Allen was in
13 Tallahassee chaperoning her daughter's Keystone Heights High
14 School band as they participated in the city's 2001 Winter
15 Festival parade, and
16 WHEREAS, Sheryl D. Allen was hit by a large
17 trailer/float owned by the City of Tallahassee and driven by a
18 City of Tallahassee employee when the trailer swung wide,
19 leaving the parade disembarkment area, and
20 WHEREAS, the contact with the trailer knocked Sheryl D.
21 Allen to the ground, resulting in a skull fracture and
22 significant closed-head injury, and
23 WHEREAS, the accident of December 8, 2001, formed the
24 basis of a negligence action filed against the City of
25 Tallahassee in 2002, and
26 WHEREAS, the city, after extensive discovery in the
27 litigation, admitted liability, and
28 WHEREAS, on April 7, 2004, the City of Tallahassee and
29 Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen mediated the case prior to
30 trial and reached an agreement whereby the city agreed to pay
31 Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen $200,000, pursuant to the
1
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Florida Senate - 2007 (NP) CS for SB 486
578-2433-07
1 statutory limits of liability, and to support the passage of a
2 claims bill in the Legislature for an additional payment of
3 $775,000, and
4 WHEREAS, the Tallahassee City Commission and the
5 Circuit Court in and for the Second Judicial Circuit approved
6 the settlement agreement reached at mediation, and the city
7 has paid $200,000 to Sheryl D. Allen, George F. Allen, and
8 their attorneys, and
9 WHEREAS, the City of Tallahassee has agreed to support
10 the filing and passage of this bill and has agreed that, if
11 this act becomes law, the City of Tallahassee, within 30 days
12 after the effective date of the act, will pay an additional
13 $775,000 to Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen, NOW,
14 THEREFORE,
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16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18 Section 1. The facts contained in the preamble to this
19 act are found and declared to be true.
20 Section 2. The City of Tallahassee is authorized and
21 directed to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise
22 appropriated and to draw a warrant in the amount of $775,000,
23 payable to Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen as compensation
24 for injuries and damages sustained due to the negligence of an
25 employee of the city.
26 Section 3. This award is intended to provide the sole
27 compensation for any and all present and future claims arising
28 out of the factual situation in connection with the injury to
29 Sheryl D. Allen. Not more than 25 percent of the award may be
30 paid by the claimants for attorney's fees, lobbying fees,
31 costs or other similar expenses.
2
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Florida Senate - 2007 (NP) CS for SB 486
578-2433-07
1 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
2 law.
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4 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
5 Senate Bill 486
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7 The CS makes the following changes:
8 Provides a limitation on payment of fees and costs.
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