Title: Relief/Kareem Hawari/Osceola County School Board

Summary: Provides appropriation to Kareem Hawari as compensation for injuries & damages resulting from negligence of Osceola County School Board employees; provides limitations on total amounts paid for certain fees, costs, & expenses.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, the wrestling match was supervised by coaches employed by the Osceola County School Board, each of whom had a duty to adequately supervise student athletes participating in school-sponsored athletic events by receiving proper training, providing adequate instruction to student athletes, reasonably selecting or matching student athletes to other sin their same weight class for purposes of competition, and monitoring athletic training and events, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari's coach did not receive any formal training and failed to provide Mr. Hawari with adequate instruction before the match, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari was matched with a student athlete who was larger, stronger, and more experienced and who finished the 2010 and 2011 seasons as a county champion wrestler, and WHEREAS, due to the negligent supervision of the coaches, Mr. Hawari hit his head on the ground during the match and suffered a brainstem hemorrhage that resulted in a traumatic brain injury that affects his motor coordination and ability to speak, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari was hospitalized at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kiss immee on March 5, 2010, and was then transported by helicopter to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, where he was admitted from March to May 4, 2010, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari underwent surgery on March 8, 2010, to relieve pressure on his bra in and had an additional surgery on March 24, 2010, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari was thereafter transferred to Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville, where he was a patient from May to June 30, 2010, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari received physical therapy at Flor ida Hospital Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation in Altamonte Springs on an outpatient basis from July to October 1, 2014, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari seeks to recover damages for his injuries, which include a permanent injury to his body as a whole, past a nd future pain and suffering of both a physical and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari incurred medical expenses in the amount of $708,309.92 and is permanently and totally disabled and unable to engage in any employment, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari lived a full and vigorous lif ebefore his injury on March 5, 2010, had a zest for life, and was active in recreational, social, and sporting activities, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari requires continuous assistance with activities of daily living and ongoing treatment for his injuries, and WHEREAS, Mr. Hawari filed a lawsuit against the Osceola County School Board in the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, in and for Osceola County, alleging that the coaches in their employ had negligently supervised the wrestling match, causing hi sinjuries, and WHEREAS, after extensive discovery and pretrial preparation, the parties reached a settlement agreement in the amount of $3.6 million, of which $100,000 has been paid pursuant to the limits of liability in former s. 768.28, Florida Statute s(2010), and the remainder is conditioned upon the passage of a claim bill, NOW, THEREFORE, ENROLLED CS/HB 6513, Engrossed 2022 Legislature Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are found and declared to be true. Section 2. The Osceola County School Board is authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the school board not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $3.5 million payable to Kareem Hawari as compensation for injuries and damages su stained. Section 3. The amount paid by the Osceola County School Board pursuant to former s. 768.28, Florida Statutes (2010), and the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out of the factual situation described in this act which resulted in injuries and damages to Kareem Hawari. Of the amount awarded under this act, the total amount paid for attorney fees and lobbying fees may not exceed $875,000 and the total amount paid for costs or other similar expenses may not exceed $9,961.51. Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.