Scott should be as eager to help Darling, Plancher families as he is to help Champions

On May 3, reporter Mike Vasilinda interviewed Gov. Rick Scott about the possibility of settling the civil lawsuit that the family of deceased Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion plans to file against FAMU. Champion, a member of the Marching 100, died during a hazing incident that took place on Nov. 19 in Orlando.

Vasilinda said Scott told him that “when the time was ripe, he was willing to participate in settlement talks with Drum Major Robert Champion’s family.”

If Scott is eager to help the Champion family, he should be just as eager to assist two other African American families whose sons died within the State University System of Florida (SUS).

The family of Devaughn Darling is still waiting for the remaining $1.8M that it is owed from its settlement agreement with Florida State University (FSU). Darling, an 18-year old football player, collapsed and died during a workout session conducted by the school in 2001.

FSU agreed to a $2M settlement in 2004, but the Florida Department of Financial Services only paid $200,000 to the family due to the university’s sovereign immunity protections. Claims bills for the remaining $1.8M have been introduced in the Florida Legislature every session over the past eight years, but none have passed.

Scott declined to make the Darling family claims bill that state Sen. Arthenia Joyner filed in 2012 a priority.

The family of Ereck Plancher could also need the governor’s help in the near future. Plancher, who was an 18-year old football player at the University of Central Florida (UCF), died during a workout session the school held in 2008. A jury found UCF negligent and has ordered the university’s athletic association to pay $10M.

UCF has filed an appeal. The court ruled that the athletic association is not protected by sovereign immunity. But UCF disagrees.

If UCF wins the appeal, it will only have to pay the $200,000 maximum damages amount established by Florida’s sovereign immunity law. The Planchers will have to seek a legislative claims bill for the remaining $9.8M.

ESPN reported that the Plancher family attorney Steven Yerrid said he “filed a $4.5 million settlement offer to UCF that got no response. Florida law says that if an eventual judgment exceeds any settlement offer by 125 percent, the defendant is responsible for all court costs and attorney fees.”

Yerrid estimates that UCF’s total bill could end up being about $14M when lawyer fees and court costs are added.

Scott should step up and make sure that the Darling and Plancher families receive every dime that the State of Florida owes them. The losses that Devaughn Darling and Ereck Plancher’s parents suffered were every bit as severe as the loss that Robert Champion’s parents suffered.

The governor shouldn’t choose which grieving SUS families he decides to help based on politics.