HB 237

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Sheryl D. Allen and George F.
3	Allen by the City of Tallahassee; providing for an
4	appropriation to compensate Sheryl D. Allen and George F.
5	Allen for injuries sustained as a result of an accident
6	involving Sheryl D. Allen and an employee of the City of
7	Tallahassee; providing an effective date.
8
9	WHEREAS, on December 8, 2001, Sheryl D. Allen was in
10	Tallahassee chaperoning her daughter's Keystone Heights High
11	School Band as they participated in the city's 2001 Winter
12	Festival parade, and
13	WHEREAS, Sheryl D. Allen was hit by a large trailer/float
14	owned by the City of Tallahassee and driven by a City of
15	Tallahassee employee when the trailer swung wide, leaving the
16	parade disembarkment area, and
17	WHEREAS, the contact with the trailer knocked Sheryl D.
18	Allen to the ground, resulting in a skull fracture and
19	significant closed-head injury, and
20	WHEREAS, the accident of December 8, 2001, formed the basis
21	of a negligence action filed against the City of Tallahassee in
22	2002, and
23	WHEREAS, the city, after extensive discovery during the
24	litigation, admitted liability, and
25	WHEREAS, on April 7, 2004, the City of Tallahassee and
26	Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen, husband of Sheryl D. Allen,
27	mediated the case prior to trial and reached an agreement
28	whereby the city agreed to pay Sheryl D. Allen and George F.
29	Allen $200,000, pursuant to the limits of liability set forth in
30	s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and to support the passage of a
31	claims bill in the Legislature for an additional payment of
32	$775,000, and
33	WHEREAS, the Tallahassee City Commission and the Circuit
34	Court in and for the Second Judicial Circuit approved the
35	settlement agreement reached at mediation, and the city has paid
36	$200,000 to Sheryl D. Allen, George F. Allen, and their
37	attorneys, and
38	WHEREAS, the City of Tallahassee has agreed to support the
39	filing and passage of this bill and has agreed that, if this act
40	becomes law, the City of Tallahassee, within 30 days after the
41	effective date of this act, will pay an additional $775,000 to
42	Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen, NOW, THEREFORE,
43
44	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
45
46	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
47	are found and declared to be true.
48	Section 2.  The City of Tallahassee is authorized and
49	directed to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise
50	appropriated and to draw a warrant in the sum of $775,000
51	payable to Sheryl D. Allen and George F. Allen as compensation
52	for injuries and damages sustained due to the negligence of an
53	employee of the city.
54	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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