UPDATE The Plancher family has released a statement stating that they “will continue to seek justice” at Supreme Court of Florida. Read the rest of the statement below.
A Florida appeal court released rulings in the Ereck Plancher case on Friday, reducing the amount in damages that must be paid in the Ereck Plancher wrongful death case from $10 million to $200,000.
The trial court initially ruled that the UCF Athletics Association was a private corporation not subject to special protections for state agencies capping the amount of liability for the March 2008 death of a football player whose distress was ignored and who was prevented from receiving aid, according to the jury.
That decision was appealed, and Friday’s ruling means that damages are capped at $200,000 instead of UCF having to pay he award at trial which was $10 million.
The court wrote, in part, that the UCF Athletics Association “is wholly controlled by and intertwined with UCF, in that UCF created it, funded it and can dissolve it, in addition to oversee its day-to-day operations.”
Additionally, the court reversed awarding the plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees of $1,897,720 and costs of $524,931.22. The ruling means that the UCF Athletics Association will not have to pay these costs.
Even though the court slashed the judgement from $10 million to $200,000, the judge still blasted UCF for its conduct.
“Indeed, as it appears and as the jury found, it was both the coaching staff’s actions and inactions that led to the tragic death of Ereck Plancher. It is difficult to comprehend how one human being can ignore another in obvious distress or prevent someone else from offering aid to one in distress, but, inexplicably, that is what happened here,” Judge Wendy W. Berger said in the case ruling.
“Ereck remains in our thoughts, and we honor his memory as part of our football program,” said UCF spokesperson Grant J. Heston. “The ruling about sovereign immunity confirms our long-held position about this important issue, and we are pleased with the decision.”
Ereck Plancher was a member of the UCF football team who died following a workout in March 2008. For more on the story, click here.
Plancher Family Statement
http://knightnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Statement-by-Attorney-Steve-Yerrid.pdf
