State, Bd. of Regents v. Yant, HH-322

• Decision Date: 06 June 1978
• Docket Number: No. HH-322,HH-322
• Citation: 360 So.2d 99
• Parties: STATE of Florida, BOARD OF REGENTS, as head of FAMU Demonstration School and Florida Casualty Insurance Risk Management Trust Fund, Appellants, v. Napolean Hosea YANT, a minor, by and through his mother and next friend,Barbara Bozeman, and Barbara Bozeman, Individually, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 99

360 So.2d 99

STATE of Florida, BOARD OF REGENTS, as head of FAMU Demonstration School and Florida Casualty Insurance Risk Management Trust Fund, Appellants, v. Napolean Hosea YANT, a minor, by and through his mother and next friend,Barbara Bozeman, and Barbara Bozeman, Individually, Appellees.

No. HH-322.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,First District.

June 6, 1978.

Rehearing Denied July 10, 1978.

Thomas F. Woods of Woods, Johnston & Erwin, Tallahassee, for appellants.

Harold E. Regan, Tallahassee, for appellees.

BOYER, Judge.

We are here called upon to construe F.S. 768.28, by which the State of Florida partially waived its sovereign immunity. The real issue now presented is the effect of F.S. 768.28(5) on derivative claims.

In April of 1975, Napolean Yant, a six year old minor, sustained severe injuries as a result of the negligence of an agency of the State of Florida, appellant here. A jury returned a verdict for the injured child in the sum of $125,000.00 and for his mother, who had sustained medical bills incident to treatment of her son in excess of $23,000.00, a verdict of $26,000.00. Appellants, defendants in the trial court, moved for an adjudication that they not be liable for a judgment in excess of $50,000.00 under the subject statute. That motion was denied and a final judgment was entered in accordance with the jury verdict.

The relevant portion of the subject statute provides as follows:

"(5) The state and its agencies and subdivisions shall be liable for tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but liability shall not include punitive damages or interest for the period prior to judgment. Neither the state nor its agencies or subdivisions shall be liable to pay a claim or a judgment by any one person which exceeds the sum of $50,000 or any claim or judgment, or portions thereof, which, when totaled with all other claims or judgments paid by the state or its agencies or subdivisions arising out of the same incident or occurrence, exceeds the sum of $100,000. However, a judgment or judgments may be claimed and rendered in excess of these amounts and may be settled and paid pursuant to this act up to $50,000 or $100,000, as the case may be, and that portion of the judgment that exceeds these amounts may be reported to the Legislature, but may be paid in part or in whole only by further act of the Legislature. The limitations of liability set forth in this subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies Although involving a different statute, this court held in Tucker v. Shelby Mutual Insurance Co. of Shelby, Ohio, 343 So.2d 1357 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977) that the claim of an injured minor child was separate and distinct from the parents' claim for resulting medical expenses and that the parents' right of action for recovery was independent of the right of action of the child arising from the same incident. That reasoning is equally applicable here.

and subdivisions whether...