HB 6019 2023
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hb6019-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act for the relief of Kristin A. Stewart by 2
Sarasota County; providing an appropriation to 3
compensate her for injuries sustained as a result of 4
the negligence of an employee of Sarasota County; 5
providing legislative intent regarding the waiver of 6
certain liens; providing limitations on compensation 7
and the payment of attorney fees, lobbying fees, and 8
costs or other similar expenses; providing an 9
effective date. 10
11
WHEREAS, on May 13, 2020, Kristin A. Stewart, then 35 years 12
of age, was jogging westbound on a pedestrian crosswalk next to 13
Bahia Vista Street at the intersection with Witmarsum Boulevard, 14
and 15
WHEREAS, at the same time, a Sarasota Cou nty Ford F-550 16
utility truck driven by an employee of Sarasota County traveling 17
eastbound on Bahia Vista Street performed a legal U -turn 18
maneuver at the intersection with Witmarsum Boulevard in order 19
to travel westbound, and 20
WHEREAS, the Sarasota County e mployee drove the utility 21
truck into the pedestrian crosswalk and failed to come to a stop 22
or otherwise yield to Ms. Stewart, who was jogging westbound in 23
the pedestrian crosswalk, and the truck struck Ms. Stewart from 24
behind, and 25
HB 6019 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
WHEREAS, after running M s. Stewart over from behind, the 26
Sarasota County utility truck continued to drive, dragging Ms. 27
Stewart on the concrete sidewalk for 65 feet and tearing the 28
skin off her torso, both of her hips, and both of her arms; 29
tearing the hair out of the top of her scalp; crushing her 30
pelvis with a grade 3 open book pelvic fracture; tearing her 31
liver nearly in half with a grade 4 liver laceration; injuring 32
her lungs, kidneys, and colon; and breaking five of Ms. 33
Stewart's ribs and her vertebral body transverse process es at 34
T11, T12, L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5, and 35
WHEREAS, Ms. Stewart did not lose consciousness at any time 36
during or after being run over and dragged by the utility truck 37
and was awake, aware, and conscious of the injuries inflicted on 38
her, and 39
WHEREAS, Ms. Stewart was designated as a trauma 1 patient 40
and transported emergently to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where 41
she underwent surgical debridement of the degloving injuries to 42
her skin; surgery to graft cadaver skin onto her degloving 43
injuries; surgery to re pair her lacerated liver; orthopedic 44
surgery to insert two large screws to reduce the injuries to her 45
pelvis; and intubation and mechanical ventilation due to a 46
collapsed lung and respiratory insufficiency, and 47
WHEREAS, Ms. Stewart's 15 -day hospitalization was followed 48
by months of home health care; wound care; ongoing and 49
continuous physical therapy; occupational therapy; further 50
HB 6019 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
surgical debridements; surgical removal of allographs; surgical 51
harvesting of skin from her right thigh for grafting to the 52
degloving injuries on her torso, her hips, and her arms; wound 53
revision surgery; and medical and psychological treatment for 54
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety, and 55
WHEREAS, Ms. Stewart, through no fault of her own, suffered 56
and was treated for multiple traumatic injuries and has 57
suffered, and will continue to suffer, mental pain and anguish 58
and the loss of enjoyment of life, and 59
WHEREAS, Ms. Stewart incurred medical care and treatment 60
costs related to her injuries which, as of May 24, 2022, to tal 61
$917,251.49, and 62
WHEREAS, since the crash, Ms. Stewart has required costly 63
and continuous care and treatment, and she will require such 64
care and treatment for the remainder of her life, and 65
WHEREAS, as a result of her injuries, Ms. Stewart is 66
medically unable to return to her career as an elementary school 67
teacher due to her continued pain, physical limitations, and 68
PTSD and anxiety, which make her medically unemployable, and 69
WHEREAS, with a work -life expectancy of another 29 years, 70
the amount of Ms. Stewart's past lost earnings and future 71
earning capacity after reduction to present value is $1,927,498, 72
and 73
WHEREAS, as a result of losing her career, Ms. Stewart will 74
lose the health insurance she had as a teacher and will have to 75
HB 6019 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
pay over her lifetime to replace that health insurance coverage, 76
which, after reduction to present value, totals $156,568, and 77
WHEREAS, Ms. Stewart suffered severe and permanent bodily 78
injury, severe and permanent scarring and disfigurement over 79
large parts of her body, menta l pain and anguish, disability, 80
pain and suffering, and the loss of ability to enjoy life from 81
the time of the accident going forward into the future, and 82
WHEREAS, Sarasota County admits that its employee was 83
solely at fault for running Ms. Stewart over f rom behind; that 84
its employee was acting within the course and scope of his 85
employment and driving Sarasota County's F -550 utility truck 86
when he ran Ms. Stewart over from behind; that Ms. Stewart did 87
nothing wrong to cause or contribute to causing the inci dent 88
that permanently injured, disfigured, and disabled her; and that 89
the negligence of Sarasota County through the acts of its 90
employee was the sole cause of Ms. Stewart's injuries and 91
damages, and 92
WHEREAS, Ms. Stewart will require costly continuous care 93
and treatment for the remainder of her life, which treatment 94
will cost $388,538 after reduction to present value, and 95
WHEREAS, in resolving the civil action brought in the 96
Circuit Court for the Twel fth Judicial Circuit, in and for 97
Sarasota County, Kristin A. Stewart vs. Sarasota County, Case 98
No. 2020 CA 005362 NC, a final judgment was entered in favor of 99
Kristin A. Stewart against Sarasota County on June 14, 2022, in 100
HB 6019 2023
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the amount of $5.95 million, and 101
WHEREAS, the parties signed a settlement agreement under 102
the terms of which a total amount of $5.95 million is to be paid 103
to Ms. Stewart, of which Sarasota County has paid $200,000 104
pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and 105
WHEREAS, Sarasota County and its insurer, Colony Insurance 106
Company, have agreed to support this claim bill being rendered 107
against Sarasota County in this matter and will support any such 108
bill in the amount agreed upon in the settlement agreement, NOW, 109
THEREFORE, 110
111
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 112
113
Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act 114
are found and declared to be true. 115
Section 2. In addition to the $200,000 already paid to 116
Kristin A. Stewart, Sarasota County is authorized and directe d 117
to appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and to draw a 118
warrant in the sum of $5.75 million payable to Kristin A. 119
Stewart as compensation for injuries and damages sustained due 120
to the negligence of an employee of Sarasota County. 121
Section 3. Excluding the federal portions of any liens, 122
Medicaid or otherwise, which the claimant must satisfy pursuant 123
to s. 409.910, Florida Statutes, it is the intent of the 124
Legislature that the lien interests relating to the care and 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
treatment of Kristin A. Stewa rt are hereby waived and 126
extinguished. 127
Section 4. The amount paid by Sarasota County pursuant to 128
s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded under this 129
act are intended to provide the sole compensation for all 130
present and future claims arising out of the factual situation 131
described in this act which resulted in injuries and damages to 132
Kristin A. Stewart. The total amount paid for attorney fees 133
relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the first 2 134
million dollars recovered and 20 percen t of moneys recovered in 135
excess of 2 million dollars, the total amount paid for lobbying 136
fees may not exceed 5 percent of the amount recovered, and the 137
total amount paid for costs or other similar expenses may not 138
exceed $88,709.64. 139
Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 140