The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of the reduction of money awarded to the Plancher family in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against UCF.
On Wednesday, the court issued the order to only review case record and legal briefs, not oral argument.
“We are extremely pleased the Florida Supreme Court has accepted this case. It has been a long journey to justice but as that destination draws near the Plancher family and our dedicated legal team are both grateful and confident,” said Steve Yerrid, lead trial attorney of the Plancher team, in an e-mail to Knight News.
Plancher died in March 2008 following a UCF football offseason workout. An autopsy of the 19-year old freshman revealed that he carried the sickle-cell trait, triggered by the stress of the workout, causing his heart to stop.
His parents filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against UCF and in August 2013, a three-judge appeals’ court panel reduced the $10 million judgement award to Ereck Plancher’s family in 2011 to $200,000.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled that UCFAA was eligible to be treated as a state agency and be eligible for the state’s sovereign immunity clause, which capped the payments out to $200,000.
“We believe the opinion from the Fifth District Court of Appeal was thoughtful and well-reasoned. We are hopeful the Florida Supreme Court will uphold that opinion, one that is of great importance to public universities in Florida,” said UCF Vice President for Communications and Marketing Grant Heston.
The Plancher’s attorneys must file their first brief by Sept. 8 and UCFAA must respond within 20 days.
