Bill Text: FL S0040 | 2017 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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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-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2017                       (NP)    CS for SB 40
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Galvano
       
       
       
       
       
       590-03421-17                                            201740c1
    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         the Sean R. McNamee Irrevocable Trust as compensation
    6         for injuries and damages sustained by Sean McNamee as
    7         a result of the negligence of employees of the School
    8         Board of Hillsborough County; providing a limitation
    9         on the payment of attorney fees; providing an
   10         effective date.
   11  
   12         WHEREAS, on October 9, 2013, Sean McNamee, a minor student
   13  and member of the football team at Wharton High School,
   14  participated in a warm-up session as part of organized team
   15  activities at the start of football practice, and
   16         WHEREAS, during a passing drill, Sean McNamee lost his
   17  balance when he came into contact with another player, and while
   18  falling to the ground, struck his head on a paint machine used
   19  to line the practice field which had been improperly left in the
   20  practice area, and
   21         WHEREAS, Sean McNamee appeared confused, disoriented, and
   22  not “symptom free” while in the training and locker rooms for
   23  evaluation and treatment by the school’s athletic trainer, and
   24         WHEREAS, the coaching and training staff did not properly
   25  evaluate or assess Sean McNamee for a concussion or head injury,
   26  left him unattended, did not call 911 or summon a physician or
   27  ambulance, and did not immediately notify Sean’s parents of the
   28  possibility that their son had sustained a brain injury, and
   29         WHEREAS, the coaching and training staff responsible for
   30  the supervision and welfare of participating student athletes
   31  should have known of the severity of the injury experienced by
   32  Sean McNamee and were responsible for ensuring he received
   33  appropriate and timely evaluation and attention, and
   34         WHEREAS, after being left alone for an extended time, Sean
   35  McNamee drove himself home, endangering himself and others, and
   36  there his sister found him incoherent and acting strangely, and
   37  she notified their father, Todd McNamee, who rushed him to the
   38  emergency department at Florida Hospital Tampa, and
   39         WHEREAS, physicians at Florida Hospital Tampa diagnosed
   40  Sean McNamee with a traumatic brain injury from a depressed
   41  temporal bone fracture with epidural and subdural hemorrhage
   42  which required multiple brain surgeries, including emergency
   43  decompression craniotomy, a 9-day induced coma, and
   44  reconstruction with a titanium plate permanently inserted into
   45  his fractured skull, and
   46         WHEREAS, as a result of the traumatic brain injury and
   47  delayed treatment, Sean McNamee suffers from permanent and
   48  significant changes in his cognitive functions and from an
   49  epileptic seizure disorder with breakthrough episodes, and
   50         WHEREAS, Sean McNamee and his parents Todd McNamee and Jody
   51  McNamee brought suit against the School Board of Hillsborough
   52  County in the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
   53  in and for Hillsborough County, Case No 14-CA-009239, and the
   54  parties entered into a court-ordered mediation on September 14,
   55  2015, and
   56         WHEREAS, the School Board of Hillsborough County approved a
   57  settlement in the amount of $2 million, paid the statutory limit
   58  of $300,000 under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and further
   59  agreed to support the passage of this claim bill in the amount
   60  of $1.7 million for the unpaid portion of the settlement, NOW,
   61  THEREFORE,
   62  
   63  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   64  
   65         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   66  found and declared to be true.
   67         Section 2. The School Board of Hillsborough County is
   68  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise
   69  encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $1.7 million
   70  payable to the Sean R. McNamee Irrevocable Trust as compensation
   71  for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the negligence
   72  of employees of the School Board of 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 relating to
   80  this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded under
   81  this act.
   82         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.