The city must pay $25,000 in a settlement to a woman claiming injuries from stepping into a hole.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published October 11, 2003
OLDSMAR - The City Council has agreed, kicking and screaming, to pay $25,000 to settle a lawsuit with a former resident who claims she fell in a hole near her duplex on Oakleaf Boulevard nearly four years ago.
The suit between the city and Joan M. Bordeau, 55, was settled for $40,000. The city's insurance, which is managed through the Florida League of Cities, will pay the settlement. Oldsmar owes the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust its $25,000 deductible.
After the council okayed the payout at its meeting this week, Mayor Jerry Beverland and council member Janice Miller expressed their frustration.
"It passes with reservation, and disgust," Beverland said.
"I totally agree," Miller said.
Bordeau, who has since moved to New Port Richey, according to public records, could not be reached for comment this week.
Since the Florida League of Cities administers the $400-million municipal insurance trust, it decides whether to settle or go to court. Although David Storey, an adjuster for the trust, said the league listens to the city's interests, the league makes the final decision.
"There was really nothing we could do," Beverland said. "They're the ones that do the settling. When they say that's it, that's it."
On Jan. 29, 2000, Bordeau was walking her dog in a mailbox area between her duplex and the duplex next door when her right foot went into a hole covered with grass and leaves. She fell into the hole, which was 9 to 11 inches deep.
She sued the city in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court for medical costs related to injuries to her right knee and foot along with lost wages.
Clearwater attorney Bryan Caulfield, who represented Bordeau, claimed in the suit that the hole was created by recurrent street flooding and an underground pipe leaking. Caulfield said Bordeau didn't see the hole because it had grown over.
The city denied any fault.
"She was walking her dog at 6:30 a.m.," Caulfield said. "In order to follow her dog, she had to step off the sidewalk briefly, and that's when she fell into the hole."
Caulfield said Bordeau had to have surgery to repair cartilage in her knee. He said she had to cancel plans to attend a management training program for Bob Evans restaurants.
Jim Yacavone III, who represented the city, said it argued that no one informed the city there was a hole. The city also argued it couldn't prove how the dinner plate-size hole was created, Yacavone said.
In the end, however, Yacavone said it was better to settle considering Bordeau's injuries, which were significant, he said.
Beverland said the suit, which was settled in July, was frivolous and wished the league of cities would have taken it to court.
All he can do now is take a deep breath, and move on, he said.
"How can you fall in a hole?" Beverland said. "Stay on the sidewalk. What are you doing walking off the sidewalk? It's aggravating."
- Researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 771-4303 or asharockman@sptimes.com
