Bill Text: FL S0040 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relief of Sean McNamee by the School Board of Hillsborough County

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-03 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 6503 (Ch. 2017-224) [S0040 Detail]

Download: Florida-2017-S0040-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2017                              (NP)    SB 40
       
       
        
       By Senator Galvano
       
       26-00035A-17                                            201740__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Sean McNamee and his parents,
    3         Todd McNamee and Jody McNamee, by the School Board of
    4         Hillsborough County; providing for an appropriation to
    5         compensate them for injuries and damages sustained by
    6         Sean McNamee as a result of the negligence of
    7         employees of the School Board of Hillsborough County;
    8         providing a limitation on the payment of compensation,
    9         fees, and costs; providing an effective date.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, on October 9, 2013, Sean McNamee, a minor student
   12  and member of the football team at Wharton High School,
   13  participated in a warm-up session as part of organized team
   14  activities at the start of football practice, and
   15         WHEREAS, during a passing drill, Sean McNamee lost his
   16  balance when he came into contact with another player, and while
   17  falling to the ground, struck his head on a paint machine used
   18  to line the practice field which had been improperly left in the
   19  practice area, and
   20         WHEREAS, Sean McNamee appeared confused, disoriented, and
   21  not “symptom free” while in the training and locker rooms for
   22  evaluation and treatment by the school’s athletic trainer, and
   23         WHEREAS, the coaching and training staff did not properly
   24  evaluate or assess Sean McNamee for a concussion or head injury,
   25  left him unattended, did not call 911 or summon a physician or
   26  ambulance, and did not immediately notify Sean’s parents of the
   27  possibility that their son had sustained a brain injury, and
   28         WHEREAS, the coaching and training staff responsible for
   29  the supervision and welfare of participating student athletes
   30  should have known of the severity of the injury experienced by
   31  Sean McNamee and were responsible for ensuring he received
   32  appropriate and timely evaluation and attention, and
   33         WHEREAS, after being left alone for an extended time, Sean
   34  McNamee drove himself home, endangering himself and others, and
   35  there his sister found him incoherent and acting strangely, and
   36  she notified their father, Todd McNamee, who rushed him to the
   37  emergency department at Florida Hospital Tampa, and
   38         WHEREAS, physicians at Florida Hospital Tampa diagnosed
   39  Sean McNamee with a traumatic brain injury from a depressed
   40  temporal bone fracture with epidural and subdural hemorrhage
   41  which required multiple brain surgeries, including emergency
   42  decompression craniotomy, a 9-day induced coma, and
   43  reconstruction with a titanium plate permanently inserted into
   44  his fractured skull, and
   45         WHEREAS, as a result of the traumatic brain injury and
   46  delayed treatment, Sean McNamee suffers from permanent and
   47  significant changes in his cognitive functions and from an
   48  epileptic seizure disorder with breakthrough episodes, and
   49         WHEREAS, Sean McNamee and his parents Todd McNamee and Jody
   50  McNamee brought suit against the School Board of Hillsborough
   51  County in the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
   52  in and for Hillsborough County, Case No 14-CA-009239, and the
   53  parties entered into a court-ordered mediation on September 14,
   54  2015, and
   55         WHEREAS, the School Board of Hillsborough County approved a
   56  settlement in the amount of $2 million, paid the statutory limit
   57  of $300,000 under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and further
   58  agreed to support the passage of this claim bill in the amount
   59  of $1.7 million for the unpaid portion of the settlement, NOW,
   60  THEREFORE,
   61  
   62  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   63  
   64         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   65  found and declared to be true.
   66         Section 2. The School Board of Hillsborough County is
   67  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise
   68  encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $1.7 million
   69  payable to Sean McNamee and his parents Todd McNamee and Jody
   70  McNamee as compensation for injuries and damages sustained as a
   71  result of the negligence of employees of the School Board of
   72  Hillsborough County.
   73         Section 3. The amount paid by the School Board of
   74  Hillsborough County under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the
   75  amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole
   76  compensation for all present and future claims arising out of
   77  the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
   78  injuries to Sean McNamee and damages to Todd McNamee and Jody
   79  McNamee. The total amount paid for attorney fees, lobbying fees,
   80  costs, and similar expenses relating to this claim may not
   81  exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded under this act.
   82         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.