Florida Senate - 2019                              (NP)    SB 24
       
       
        
       By Senator Simmons
       
       
       
       
       
       9-00116A-19                                             201924__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of the Estate of Eric Scott
    3         Tenner by the Miami-Dade County Board of County
    4         Commissioners; providing for an appropriation to
    5         compensate his estate for injuries and damages
    6         sustained by Eric Scott Tenner and his survivors as a
    7         result of the negligence of an employee of the Miami
    8         Dade County Board of County Commissioners; providing a
    9         limitation on the payment of attorney fees; providing
   10         an effective date.
   11  
   12         WHEREAS, on October 8, 2014, 45-year-old Eric Scott Tenner
   13  was riding his bicycle along the U.S. 1 Busway in Miami-Dade
   14  County, wearing appropriate clothing and safety equipment for
   15  cycling, and
   16         WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner was struck by a bus owned and operated
   17  by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners at
   18  approximately 7 a.m. near the intersection of the U.S. 1 Busway
   19  and SW 124th Street, and
   20         WHEREAS, the driver of a vehicle has a duty to use
   21  reasonable care to prevent injuring persons in the vehicle’s
   22  path, and
   23         WHEREAS, the bus driver should have seen Mr. Tenner’s
   24  bicycle, but the driver breached his duty to use reasonable care
   25  when his bus struck Mr. Tenner from behind, and
   26         WHEREAS, the bus driver was acting within his scope of
   27  employment with the Miami-Dade County Board of County
   28  Commissioners at the time of the accident and the board is
   29  liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior, and
   30         WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner was transported to Kendall Regional
   31  Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries and died on
   32  October 11, 2014, and
   33         WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner, through his wife, donated all viable
   34  tissues and organs so that others may live, and
   35         WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner is survived by his wife and two minor
   36  sons, all of whom are being treated by therapists and health
   37  professionals to cope with the loss of their husband and father,
   38  who provided for and had a demonstrably close relationship with
   39  his family, and
   40         WHEREAS, Mr. Tenner’s family is suffering significant
   41  financial hardship due to the loss of Mr. Tenner’s net
   42  accumulations in the past and the future, and extreme mental
   43  anguish and suffering resulting from the loss of their husband
   44  and father, and
   45         WHEREAS, the Estate of Eric Scott Tenner has alleged,
   46  through a lawsuit filed May 22, 2015, in Miami-Dade County, that
   47  the negligence of the Miami-Dade County Board of County
   48  Commissioners, through its bus driver, was the proximate cause
   49  of Mr. Tenner’s death, and
   50         WHEREAS, the total present value of Mr. Tenner’s economic
   51  damages from this incident is calculated to be $3,563,249.93,
   52  which consists of his future and past lost earning capacity of
   53  $3,531,212 and past medical expenses of $32,037.93, and
   54         WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Board of County
   55  Commissioners and the Estate of Eric Scott Tenner reached a
   56  settlement agreement by mediation in the amount of $1.75
   57  million, of which $300,000 will be paid to the Estate of Eric
   58  Scott Tenner pursuant to the limits of liability set forth in s.
   59  768.28, Florida Statutes, and the remainder is conditioned upon
   60  the passage of a claim bill, which is agreed to by the Miami
   61  Dade County Board of County Commissioners, in the amount of
   62  $1.45 million, NOW, THEREFORE,
   63  
   64  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   65  
   66         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   67  found and declared to be true.
   68         Section 2. The Miami-Dade County Board of County
   69  Commissioners is authorized and directed to appropriate from
   70  funds of the county not otherwise encumbered and to draw a
   71  warrant in the sum of $1.45 million, payable to Maria Tenner as
   72  personal representative of the Estate of Eric Scott Tenner, as
   73  compensation for injuries and damages sustained.
   74         Section 3. The amount paid by the Miami-Dade County Board
   75  of County Commissioners pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes,
   76  and the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide
   77  the sole compensation for all present and future claims arising
   78  out of the factual situation described in this act which
   79  resulted in the death of Eric Scott Tenner, including injuries
   80  and damages to the Estate of Eric Scott Tenner and his
   81  survivors. The total amount paid for attorney fees relating to
   82  this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the total amount awarded
   83  under this act.
   84         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.