THE FLORIDA SENATE

SPECIAL MASTER ON CLAIM BILLS

Location

402 Senate Office Building

Mailing Address

404 South Monroe StreetTallahassee, Florida 32399-1100(850) 487-5237

DATE COMMACTION1/15/08 SM Unfavorable

January 15, 2008The Honorable Ken PruittPresident, The Florida SenateSuite 409, The CapitolTallahassee, Florida 32399-1100Re:

SB 54 (2008)

– Senator Arthenia Joyner

HB 1223 (2008)

– Representative Geri ThompsonRelief of Daniel Decembre

SPECIAL MASTER’S FINAL REPORT

THIS IS AN UNOPPOSED EQUITABLE CLAIM FOR $1.8MILLION ARISING FROM A STIPULATED SETTLEMENTAGREEMENT BETWEEN DESNAR AND MIGNONEDECEMBRE, AS PARENTS AND GUARDIANS OF DANIELDECEMBRE, AND THE ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLBOARD FOR INJURIES THAT DANIEL RECEIVEDWHENHE WAS ATTACKED BY A PIT BULL ON THE CAMPUSOF RIDGEWOOD PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.FINDINGS OF FACT: On March 4, 2003, after regular classes had ended atRidgewood Park Elementary School in Orlando, DanielDecembre, then 8 years old, was talking with a friend whilewaiting for his after-school tutoring class to begin. Danielsaw a large dog running straight for him and he began to runtoward a playground area where there were teachers andother students. Daniel tripped and fell down as he ranacross a broad drainage swale. The dog jumped on top ofDaniel and began to maul him, biting him repeatedly on hisface and head.A teacher drove her car over to the area and triedwithoutsuccess to knock the dog away with the car. Other teachers

SPECIAL MASTER’S FINAL REPORT – SB 54 (2008)January 15, 2008Page 2threw things at the dog. One teacher beat the dog with anumbrella until it finally stopped its attack.Daniel’s injuries were extensive. He was taken via airambulance to the hospital. He had deep lacerations of bothcheeks, his eyelids, and chin. He lost much of his right earand his left ear had to be amputated. He has undergonefour subsequent surgeries to repair the damage to his faceand eyes.Daniel suffered permanent physical injuries to his face andhead. He will need several more surgeries and a prostheticear implant which must be replaced every 2 to 5years (toaccount for his growth) until he reaches physical maturity.He has recurring pain on the left side of his head, somefacial nerve damage, and the tear duct of his left eyecontinually runs.The incident also caused Daniel lasting psychologicaltrauma. He has frequent nightmares and is now afraid to benear dogs. The incident, subsequent surgeries, and hisrecovery caused Daniel to fall a year behind in school.Unfortunately, he is regularly teased at school due to hisdisfigurement.The dog belonged to a manwho lived in a house adjacent tothe school grounds. He said that the dog bolted through thefront door when his daughter came into the house. Therewas no explanation in the record for why the dog’s owner didnot immediately run after the dog and arrive sooner toprevent or to help stop the dog’s attack on Daniel. Theevidence only shows that owner arrived after the attack hadended and took the dog back to his house. The owner wasissued a citation and he paid a fine. The pit bull was put tosleep.In the 3 years preceding the attack on Daniel, officials atRidgewood Park Elementary had called Orange CountyAnimal Services 19 times to have dogs removed from theschool campus. None of the prior incidents had involved adog bite or attack on a student or adult.LITIGATION HISTORY: Claimants sued the School Board in the circuit court forOrange County in 2005. The case was successfullymediated and the parties entered into a Stipulated

SPECIAL MASTER’S FINAL REPORT – SB 54 (2008)January 15, 2008Page 3Settlement Agreement in November 2007 which called forpayment to Desnar and Mignone Decembre, individually andas the parents and guardians of Daniel, the sovereignimmunity limit of $200,000 and for the School Board to takea neutral position on the passage of a claim bill for anadditional $1.8 Million.The Decembres did not sue the dog owner for Daniel’sinjuries because his homeowner’s insurance did not coverdog bites, and he had no significant assets.CLAIMANTS’ POSITION: The School Board is liable in negligence for failing to takereasonable steps to prevent dogs from entering the schoolcampus and attacking students.SCHOOL BOARD’S POSITION: The School Board denies liability for negligence, but believesthe settlement is fair and reasonable under thecircumstances.CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: There are many reasons for entering into a settlementagreement other than the perceived merits of the claim and,therefore, I am not precluded from reviewing the terms of theparties' settlement agreement in this matter and determiningwhether they are reasonable under the totality of thecircumstances.The School Board has a duty to take reasonable measuresto protect its students from foreseeable injuries. Eventhough no student had previously been bitten by a dog onthe campus of Ridgewood Park Elementary, a dog attackwas foreseeable because dogs had previously entered thecampus. The fencing around the campus was in disrepair inseveral places, but the pit bull that attacked Daniel camethrough the front gate that is always open during schoolhours to allow for children to arrive at the campus by schoolbus or by car, as well as for teachers, other schoolemployees, and visitors. Whether the School Boardbreached its duty to protect Daniel comes down to thequestion of whether the School Board, using reasonablemeans, could have preventeda dog from entering thecampus through the front gate.Calling Animal Services was a responsible action to takewhen dogs were found on the school campus. Claimantsargued that, because dogs had been removed from the