Florida Senate - 2019 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 24
Ì436186AÎ436186
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/11/2019 .
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The Committee on Judiciary (Simmons) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
6 found and declared to be true.
7 Section 2. The Miami-Dade County Board of County
8 Commissioners is authorized and directed to appropriate from
9 funds of the county not otherwise encumbered and to draw a
10 warrant in the sum of $1.45 million, payable to Maria Tenner as
11 personal representative of the Estate of Eric Scot Tenner, as
12 compensation for injuries and damages sustained.
13 Section 3. The amount paid by the Miami-Dade County Board
14 of County Commissioners pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes,
15 and the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide
16 the sole compensation for all present and future claims arising
17 out of the factual situation described in this act which
18 resulted in the death of Eric Scot Tenner, including injuries
19 and damages to the Estate of Eric Scot Tenner and his survivors.
20 The total amount paid for attorney fees relating to this claim
21 may not exceed 25 percent of the total amount awarded under this
22 act.
23 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
24
25 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
26 And the title is amended as follows:
27 Delete everything before the enacting clause
28 and insert:
29 A bill to be entitled
30 An act for the relief of the Estate of Eric Scot
31 Tenner by the Miami-Dade County Board of County
32 Commissioners; providing for an appropriation to
33 compensate his estate for injuries and damages
34 sustained by Eric Scot Tenner and his survivors as a
35 result of the negligence of an employee of the Miami
36 Dade County Board of County Commissioners; providing a
37 limitation on the payment of attorney fees; providing
38 an effective date.
39
40 WHEREAS, on October 8, 2014, 45-year-old Eric Scot Tenner
41 was riding his bicycle along the U.S. 1 Busway in Miami-Dade
42 County, wearing appropriate clothing and safety equipment for
43 cycling, and
44 WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner was struck by a bus owned and operated
45 by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners at
46 approximately 7 a.m. near the intersection of the U.S. 1 Busway
47 and SW 124th Street, and
48 WHEREAS, the driver of a vehicle has a duty to use
49 reasonable care to prevent injuring persons in the vehicle’s
50 path, and
51 WHEREAS, the bus driver should have seen Mr. Tenner’s
52 bicycle, but the driver breached his duty to use reasonable care
53 when his bus struck Mr. Tenner from behind, and
54 WHEREAS, the bus driver was acting within his scope of
55 employment with the Miami-Dade County Board of County
56 Commissioners at the time of the accident and the board is
57 liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior, and
58 WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner was transported to Kendall Regional
59 Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries and died on
60 October 11, 2014, and
61 WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner, through his wife, donated all viable
62 tissues and organs so that others may live, and
63 WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner is survived by his wife and two minor
64 sons, all of whom are being treated by therapists and health
65 professionals to cope with the loss of their husband and father,
66 who provided for and had a demonstrably close relationship with
67 his family, and
68 WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner’s family is suffering significant
69 financial hardship due to the loss of Mr. Tenner’s net
70 accumulations in the past and the future, and extreme mental
71 anguish and suffering resulting from the loss of their husband
72 and father, and
73 WHEREAS, the Estate of Eric Scot Tenner has alleged,
74 through a lawsuit filed May 22, 2015, in Miami-Dade County, that
75 the negligence of the Miami-Dade County Board of County
76 Commissioners, through its bus driver, was the proximate cause
77 of Mr. Tenner’s death, and
78 WHEREAS, the total present value of Mr. Tenner’s economic
79 damages from this incident is calculated to be $3,563,249.93,
80 which consists of his future and past lost earning capacity of
81 $3,531,212 and past medical expenses of $32,037.93, and
82 WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Board of County
83 Commissioners and the Estate of Eric Scot Tenner reached a
84 settlement agreement by mediation in the amount of $1.75
85 million, of which $300,000 will be paid to the Estate of Eric
86 Scot Tenner pursuant to the limits of liability set forth in s.
87 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the remainder is conditioned upon
88 the passage of a claim bill, which is agreed to by the Miami
89 Dade County Board of County Commissioners, in the amount of
90 $1.45 million, NOW, THEREFORE,