Bill Text: FL S1010 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relief of Dominguez by Hillsborough County
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Special Master on Claim Bills [S1010 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S1010-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 (NP) SB 1010
By Senator Taddeo
40-01043-18 20181010__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act for the relief of Jorge L. Dominguez, Chelsea
3 Beatrice Dominguez, Brittney Delores Dominguez, and
4 Tori Alexis Dominguez by Hillsborough County;
5 providing for an appropriation to compensate them for
6 the wrongful death of Darcia Lynn Dominguez, which
7 occurred as the result of the negligence of
8 Hillsborough County and one of its employees;
9 providing a limitation on the payment of compensation
10 and attorney fees; providing an effective date.
11
12 WHEREAS, on February 26, 2010, Darcia Lynn Dominguez, a 39
13 year-old licensed registered nurse, was driving northbound on
14 Veterans Highway in Tampa, and
15 WHEREAS, on the morning in question, Santiago Hasbun, an
16 employee of Hillsborough County, acting in the regular course
17 and scope of his employment duties and with the express consent
18 of Hillsborough County, was operating a Hillsborough County
19 owned tractor-trailer northbound on Veterans Highway, and
20 WHEREAS, Mr. Hasbun negligently operated the tractor
21 trailer when he failed to remove the vehicle from the traveled
22 portion of the highway despite a warning from the vehicle
23 management and control system of impeding engine failure, which
24 warning continued for a period of at least 15 minutes, before
25 the engine shut down and despite the availability of a 24-foot
26 to 37-foot grass median onto to which he could have traveled and
27 parked the tractor-trailer, and
28 WHEREAS, Mr. Hasbun violated Florida law by failing to
29 timely exit or remove his vehicle from the traveled portion of
30 the roadway prior to the engine breakdown and, thereafter, by
31 failing to warn approaching motorists of the hazard by not
32 placing statutorily required emergency triangles or cones in the
33 proper location at the rear of the vehicle, the purpose of such
34 emergency triangles or cones being to apprise approaching
35 motorists of the impeding hazard at a sufficient distance to
36 allow the approaching motorist to timely stop or take evasive
37 action, and
38 WHEREAS, Hillsborough County, through its Fleet Management
39 Department, was negligent in its servicing and maintenance of
40 the tractor-trailer driven by Mr. Hasbun, which resulted in an
41 electrical failure, which prevented the operation of the
42 tractor-trailer’s emergency flashing lights, and
43 WHEREAS, the combined negligence of Hillsborough County and
44 one of its employees proximately caused Ms. Dominguez to crash
45 into the back of the tractor-trailer, which had come to a
46 complete stop on the traveled portion of the roadway, and
47 WHEREAS, at the time of her death as a result of the crash,
48 Ms. Dominguez was the spouse of Jorge L. Dominguez and the
49 mother of their three daughters, Tori Alexis Dominguez, then 10
50 years of age; Brittney Delores Dominguez, then 16 years of age;
51 and Chelsea Beatrice Dominguez, then 18 years of age, and
52 WHEREAS, in accordance with the Wrongful Death Act, Mr.
53 Dominguez commenced a legal action against Hillsborough County
54 in Tampa on behalf of the Estate of Darcia Lynn Dominguez and
55 her surviving spouse and daughters, and
56 WHEREAS, after years of litigation, Hillsborough County on
57 December 13, 2016, acknowledged its negligence and that of its
58 employee and entered into a consent judgment for $600,000, of
59 which Hillsborough County has paid its sovereign immunity limit
60 of $200,000. In a separate, confidential settlement, the
61 county’s excess insurance carrier, Star Insurance Company, paid
62 an additional, confidential amount to the plaintiff. By virtue
63 of the consent judgment and the settlement agreement reached
64 between the parties, Hillsborough County has agreed that it is
65 liable to the Estate of Darcia Lynn Dominguez for an additional
66 $400,000 in damages, to be paid in two equal installments over
67 the course of 2 years, with the first $200,000 payment to be
68 made during the October following the effective date of this
69 act, and the second $200,000 payment to be made during October
70 of the immediately following year, and
71 WHEREAS, Hillsborough County has acknowledged that a
72 reasonable estimate of the damages recoverable for the four
73 statutory survivors of Ms. Dominguez is between $4 million and
74 $8 million and forensic estimates of her lifetime earnings,
75 recoverable as damages for loss of net accumulations to her
76 estate, amounted to an additional $1.7 million, and
77 WHEREAS, Hillsborough County consents to and fully supports
78 the passage of this act, NOW, THEREFORE,
79
80 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
81
82 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
83 found and declared to be true.
84 Section 2. Hillsborough County is authorized and directed
85 to appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and to draw
86 two warrants in the sum of $200,000 each, payable to the Estate
87 of Darcia Lynn Dominguez as set forth in this act.
88 Section 3. The amount paid by Hillsborough County pursuant
89 to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded under
90 this act are intended to provide the sole compensation for all
91 present and future claims arising out of the factual situation
92 described in this act which resulted in the death of Darcia Lynn
93 Dominguez. The total amount paid for attorney fees relating to
94 this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded under
95 this act.
96 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
