Date: 07-31-2006

Case Style: Claudia Kautz and Jeffrey Kautz v. Palm Beach County School District

Case Number: Unknown

Judge: Unknown

Court: Circuit Court, Palm Beach County, Florida

Plaintiff's Attorney:

Joe Slama of Krupnick Campbell Malone Buser Slama Hancock Liberman & McKee, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Defendant's Attorney: Unknown

Description:

Claudia Kautz and Jeffrey Kautz sued the Palm Beach County School District on a governmental tort claim wrongful death theory claiming that they daughter Diana Kautz was killed in a school bus accident when the driver ran a stop sign and hit a pickup. Diana was not wearing a seat belt at the time and thrown from the bus and killed.

Outcome: Settled for $1.1 million.

Plaintiff's Experts: Unknown

Defendant's Experts: Unknown

Comments: Editor's Note: There is apparently a $200,000 cap on the liability of public entities in Florida unless the legislature elects to pass legislation authorizing the payment of a judgment or settlement in excess of the $200,000 cap. That apparently happened in this case so the parents of Diana actually received their net share of the settlement. While they were successful in asserting a claim for their child's death as a direct result of the negligence of the driver of the bus, they were not successful in forcing the school system to enforce the use of the seat belts that are now installed in buses including the bus in which Diana was a passenger.