Senate Bill sb0486e1

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    CS for SB 486                                  First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act for the relief of Sheryl D. Allen and

  3         George F. Allen by the City of Tallahassee;

  4         providing for an appropriation to compensate

  5         Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen for

  6         injuries sustained as a result of an accident

  7         involving Sheryl D. Allen and an employee of

  8         the City of Tallahassee; providing for

  9         attorney's fees, lobbyist's fees, and costs;

10         providing an effective date.

11  

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 during 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, husband of Sheryl D.

30  Allen, mediated the case prior to trial and reached an

31  agreement whereby the city agreed to pay Sheryl D. Allen and


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    CS for SB 486                                  First Engrossed



 1  George F. Allen $200,000, pursuant to the limits of liability

 2  set forth in s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and to support the

 3  passage of a claims bill in the Legislature for an additional

 4  payment of $775,000, and

 5         WHEREAS, the Tallahassee City Commission and the

 6  Circuit Court in and for the Second Judicial Circuit approved

 7  the settlement agreement reached at mediation, and the city

 8  has paid $200,000 to Sheryl D. Allen, George F. Allen, and

 9  their attorneys, and

10         WHEREAS, the City of Tallahassee has agreed to support

11  the filing and passage of this bill and has agreed that, if

12  this act becomes law, the City of Tallahassee, within 30 days

13  after the effective date of this act, will pay an additional

14  $775,000 to Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen, NOW,

15  THEREFORE,

16  

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

18  

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

20  act are found and declared to be true.

21         Section 2.  The City of Tallahassee is authorized and

22  directed to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise

23  appropriated and to draw a warrant in the sum of $775,000

24  payable to Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen as compensation

25  for injuries and damages sustained due to the negligence of an

26  employee of the city.

27         Section 3.  Payment for attorney's fees and costs

28  incurred by the claimant's attorneys shall not exceed

29  $117,946. Payment for the professional services and costs of

30  lobbyists advocating for passage of this claim shall not

31  exceed $7,750.


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    CS for SB 486                                  First Engrossed



 1         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

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