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Date: 08-10-2021
Case Style:
Case Number: CACE-20-001351
Judge: Tobin-Singer
Court: Circuit Court, Broward County, Florida
Plaintiff's Attorney: Micahel Haggard and Adam Finkel
Defendant's Attorney: John Atkinson and Isabel Jolicoeur
Description: During the morning of August 24, 2019, Mohammed Salim, a resident of the Arbor Keys Condominiums in Tamarac, Florida, dropped off his minivan with a neighbor, so that it could be washed. Later that afternoon, Mohammed, along with his four and six-year-old sons, walked across the parking lot to check on the status of the van. As the van was not ready, Mohammed sent his sons to the nearby playground, while he waited for his van to be finished. At least 13 minutes later, Mohamed heard screams, as it had turned out that his boys left the playground and made entered the community pool. They did this without Mohammed's knowledge, and while he was monitoring his van.
While the community pool was meant to be closed, the gate was recently broken. As a solution, the gate was secured by a loosely-fit chain and padlock that allowed for a 13-inch gap when opened. The boys entered the pool through the gate’s opening, played in the pool area for several minutes, and eventually, 4-year-old Monzer became submerged and nearly drowned. Seventeen months later, he died.
While Defendant-Atlantic Waterworks was only a pool cleaning company, and simply subcontracted their work with Arbor Keys to Moonlite Pool Service, both tendered their One Million Dollar policy limits. Further, while Next Generation Management was in charge of managing the
property, and it was an Arbor Keys that purchased the chain and padlock, they took tendered their Four Million Dollar policy limit. Lastly, with further litigation and on the doorsteps of trial, a settlement for an additional $5.95 Million Dollars was reached with Arbor Keys.
Outcome: Settled for $11.95 million.
Plaintiff's Experts: George Zimmerman, and Gerald Dworkin
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: