Cop who fell on the job sues family of baby who almost drowned -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

I read this and am horrified that someone who is PAID to help others is now doing something so backhanded as this. This family has already suffered tremendously, and now add this.

I am wondering how this isn't Workman's comp, if she develops side effects down the road from the injury, I am pretty sure it would be covered.

I think she say an opportunity and is taking it, how sad.

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She should be ashamed of herself!

That's the most wrong thing I've read in a long time. That woman should be ashamed of herself. Get some common sense, for Pete's sake!

How Pathetic, I didn't know it was protect and serve and see how much money you can get. I'm sure mopping up the floor was the last thing on that womens mind.

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"Never loan your car to someone you have given birth too"

Maybe she'll get the judge who sued the drycleaners for $60M Oh wait, wasn't he was disbarred for being so stupid & greedy?! This is ridiculous.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

This is why people have Homeowners Insurance. Until I hear the whole story I won't judge her. So she got Workmens Comp. My oldest DD's boyfriend (they live together) is currently on Workmens Comp and gets a whole $197 a week, certainly not nearly the amount he would make if he could be working (he made $35,000 a year) and not nearly the amount that it takes to live on. If DD wasn't working they wouldn't make it and barely are, as it is. You don't know how many bills she has, rent or mertgage payments she has to pay, car payment, if she is single then it will be worse. Hopefully she will be able to settle out of court and get some compensation to pay her bills that are behind and that type thing. She may have had to take out loans to pay bills while off work and has to pay those back. I won't judge her yet.

I'm not sure - does Homeowners cover stuff like that? Don't you have to have a separate liablity coverage? I thought homeowners was just for damage to the house - I could be wrong, though, DH is the insurance person in the family and he's not home right now.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Ours does. It requires certain things, we have to try to avoid accidents. We have a pool and they require that there be a fence around the backyard, with locked gates in the backyard.

I MIGHT agree with this, IF she even missed a day of work, she didn't. She kept on working, had all her bills paid in full by workmans comp. She is suing, just in case she gets arthritis in the future... She's trying to get a windfall. I hope they let her go as an embarassment to the city she works so hard to protect.

Most states pay 66 2/3% of an injured employees average weekly wage. The average weekly wage is generally based on a specific number of pay periods prior to the date of injury. If he was making 35K/yr prior to the date of injury then he should be receiving more temporary total disability benefits.
The math as you have presented does not add up. Also, how long has he been off work? What injury does he have that is preventing him from work?

As to the officer that was injured: She is not worthy of the badge she wears! If she develops arthritis from this injury then yes, it would be paid for by work comp. If she has a permanent impairment then she will be paid for that based on the Florida state statutes (here, every percentage point entitles you to 3.75 weeks of permanent partial disability payment. The amount per week can not exceed $287/wk and is based on the average weekly wage and temp total rate. And she says that her knee hurts? Well, don't we all have aches and pains? Another thing--If this had happened at her friend's house would she be suing? I'm betting not

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My DD's boyfriend gets $197 a week, he had alot of overtime (last years w-2 was $35,000) and that is not counted as regular income when they computed his salary. He needs hip replacement surgery in both hips, he climbs poles and installs cable and he can't do that at all now. He is in constant pain and can't do a whole lot of anything. The company did not have any other jobs available, they at first fired him, but then found out they couldn't. DD is handling the case personally (she works for an attorney and they do personal injury, workmens comp, criminal law) she is making sure her boss (my friend) gets him everything possible. He has been off work since January.

The article said she BROKE her knee and was off work for TWO months.

well, in most states OT is counted in the average weekly wage. But that varies state to state.
If he needs hip replacements and he's been off work since January--why haven't he has the flipping surgery?? What's the hold up?

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

This makes me so upset! My mother worked at a school in their lunch area and had a machine fall on her shoulder. She had multiple surgeries to attach the tendons and muscles back together. (She suffers from arthritis there now) All of this while my dad was at home because of back surgery. At the time there were 3 kids living at home and somehow we made it work. I think this country is sue happy. (and bankruptcy happy). Just my opinion.

His job is fighting it because they don't want to pay for it, since it's so expensive, they have dragged it out in every way possbile, postponing court dates, etc. even though the doctors are all saying this is the only thing that can be done. He has already gone through the physical therapy and they say they can't do anything to help, but it is all part of the process, the physical thereapy, then all the doctors visits, then the vistis to the surgeon, etc. We are hoping he can get the first surgery before Christmas sometime.

What a DISPICABLE person she is !!!!!!!
They say what goes around comes around. There may be a tragedy heading her way at any time and if one befalls her, she has it coming.

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Barb


My GOD Bless our Country and our Troops, and rid the World of terroists.

I find her to be just pathetic. Just because you can sue for something does not mean that you should. I'm sure there has been things happen to nearly all of us, that if we wanted to be greedy we could have sued for a little bit of money. I would be ashamed of myself for even thinking about sueing in a situation like that. I would think that being an on duty officer she shouldn't be allowed to sue for something like this. It would be different if someone did something to deliberately hurt her.

You need a new lawyer.
I probably know the process better than most--I adjust work comp claims for a living. If his attorney hasn't been able to get the necessary medical treatment, then I don't think they are a very competent attorney.

Finally, you say "his job is fighting it"...is his employer a self-insured? If so, then yes, they might be able to have a say in how the claim is handled. If not, then the issue should be dealt with through the insurer. What insurance company is he dealing with?

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

I don't know if the employer is self-insured or the insurance company. I can find out tomorrow. I know that his employer is a local cablevision company owned by a local guy, so not sure how that plays into it. I know they do have some type of input, because at first everything was getting approved and there were no problems (after the initial firing and rehiring) but when they found out he had to have hip replacement surgery at $75,000 per hip and would be in rehab/therapy for 6 months after things changed. Both the attorneys are excellent attorneys and I grew up with both of them and trust them and my DD has been working workmens comp claims for 10 years. He has had to go to several different doctors for different opinions that they have requested.

hmmm so baby falls into the pool... and the parent / grandparent gets him out of the pool and calls 911 for emergency assistance, tells the 911 operator the baby fell into the POOL ... but then needs to dry the floor so that the police don't hurt themselves???


unbelievable, really.

Very poor excuse for the badge that she wears---and it doesn't matter if she is a 12 year veteran or if she is a hostage negotiator--whoopie.

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SPJRNTGADL!

When I read the article, I'm enraged -- at the mother who was the cause of the entire tragedy.

I strongly suspect we're not getting the whole story on the injured cop -- I wouldn't be one bit surprised to hear that the worker's comp carrier is pressuring her to sue the responsible third party who created the danger in the first place. That wouldn't be terribly unusual, for the WC carrier to try to recoup their payments from the party actually responsible. Which, IMO, is the mother.

Usually, when a WC Carrier tries to recoup their losses from a responsible third party they do it themselves--they don't pressure the claimant to pursue. In fact, I have NEVER in my experience working as an examiner/adjuster ever seen a case where the insurer/TPA "pressured" a claimant to pursue subrogation. Most states provide for WC carriers/TPAs subrogation rights.

Being a police officer is inherently dangerous. I think that this suit (as presented in the article) is incredibly wrong. Ethically, morally wrong. There is no mention of trying to recoup loss wages, there is no indication that she is trying to recoup for any out of pocket medical expenses. The gist of the suit seems to be that 1) her knee still hurts (and it's probably going to the rest of her life as a matter of fact), 2) and she may develop arthritis (probably so--it's the nature of the type of injury as well as body part injured).

Many years ago, DH worked as a Sheriff's Deputy in the County Jail. A fight broke out in one of the inmate "pods" and all the deputies took off running to that pod to stop it. DH slipped on a wet spot on the floor (to this day do not know why it was wet). He fell backward and landed on his elbow. He chipped the bone on his elbow. He went to the ER, was treated and released and missed a few days of work. He still has problems with that elbow--that are more likely than not a direct result of his injury. Should he have sued the county because there was a wet spot? I think not, simply because part of his job description was to respond to physical altercations in the inmate pods. Sure, the wet spot should not have been there--but sometimes things happen.
I think the attorney representing this woman (who strangely enough is not identified) is ethically and morally compromised.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Man, of all paragraphs in the article to miss... I had to pick that one... Even still... to sue a greiving family is HEARTLESS...

And I'm going to add, this cop KNEW she was going to a place where there was a drowing victim. She should know then that there would be water around. If the child was brought inside, she should KNOW they didn't dry off the baby or who rescued the baby BEFORE bringing him in.

ok....so I have a question....hypothetically...

if an officer fell, slipped, was injured, out of work 2 months, may need surgery, knee hurts all the time...and so forth...
but, let's say, instead of happening at the home of a family with a little boy who had a tragic accident and now we feel very sorry for the child/grief stricken family...well, let's say it happened after the officer was responding to...a crack house. Or, an officer responded to a 911 call at the home of a pedophile and slipped and fell in a puddle there.

Then does everyone feel the same way about suing? Do you still think the homeowner (remember now they are a crack dealer or pedophile) shouldn't be sued, the officer should just write it off, etc...or, should the homeowner be responsible in those cases?

In my opinion, it doesn't really matter. She is at the house as part of her public service job, not as a private citizen. She should be trained to exercise caution and make good choices whether it's a family home or a crack house. But I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV either...

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I agree, she is not a private citizen, she is a public servant... She needed to exercise caution.

My DH is a police officer. When I told him about this case, he was outraged. As far as he's concerned, the office knew the floor was wet and should have used caution. That is the nature of this job. You never know what can happen. It's these types of things that give officers a bad name.
If she wins this it wall set up a precedent for all response workers to be able to sue, even though their jobs are inherently dangerous. No one will want to call 911 for fear of a law suit.
Judy

Yes, I feel the same way. Responding to a 911 call is generally dangerous--whether responding to the local pool for a drowning victim, or to the local whore house for a shooting.

I haven't had an opportunity to poll all the officers I know--but I'm pretty sure that the majority would be appalled by this officer's decision to sue!

I had officers respond to a home burglar alarm. The first officer on the scene could not open the locked gate surrounding the property. He vaulted over the 4.5 ft fence--caught his foot, fell and tore his ACL. It required surgery and 8 wks of complete work removal and then 8 or so weeks of desk duty. Now, do you think the home owner should be held liable because their gate was locked and the officer couldn't access the area? Or was he just performing his usual and customary job duties in trying to secure the area?

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

I just watched the video Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com It is heatbreaking seeing the grandparents Listening to the police officer attorney makes me sick ..

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Something seems odd here. Why would someone stay with a department for so long, and then sure for something that sounds petty? I'd love to know more about the story.

"This makes me so upset! My mother worked at a school in their lunch area and had a machine fall on her shoulder. She had multiple surgeries to attach the tendons and muscles back together. (She suffers from arthritis there now) All of this while my dad was at home because of back surgery. At the time there were 3 kids living at home and somehow we made it work. I think this country is sue happy. (and bankruptcy happy). Just my opinion."

I feel the same way, People these days are sue happy. I think that is so sad and pathetic, to sue that family with the way they are suffering is heartless. My DH is a police officer and would never think about suing someone, obviously she wasn't using enough caution since the other rescuers didnt fall did they? The Officer has dropped the suit (since she was laid off, probably for giving the dept a bad name) but look at what she has done, she should be Embarasses and the things that her attorney said are just as heartless. I hope that the baby gets better, that poor family.

Well, we can each only speak to our personal experience.

Caught a blurb in the paper today that she has dropped the suit. I honestly didn't read the entire article tho.

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I did as well about it being dropped. I see no mention of parents, it's all the grandparents, maybe they were raising the baby

dl

The grandparents are Joey's legal guardians as cited in the article linked by OP. Joey lives in a nursing home.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Thanks. I didn't read the whole thing, just caught part of it this time around.

So sad that he can't be at home. Maybe the situation was too much for the mom to handle. ????

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

CASSELBERRY, Fla. — Casselberry authorities say a police sergeant has been fired for suing a family after she slipped and fell while trying to rescue a 1-year-old boy from drowning.
Casselberry Police Chief John Pavlis fired Sergeant Andrea Eichhorn on Tuesday.
Eichhorn has dropped her negligence lawsuit. It claimed there was water on the floor at Joey Cosmillo's home when police arrived. Eichhorn claimed she broke her knee and missed two months of work after she slid on the wet floor.
The boy suffered brain damage and can no longer walk, talk or swallow. He lives in a nursing home and eats and breathes through tubes.
Eichhorn can appeal her firing. Pavlis said the lawsuit brought public ridicule to the agency and damaged its reputation.

I have arthritis.
Who do I sue?
Where is my free money!
I want my share!
I want it now!

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I just figure if you are a police officer that you know that you are going to be in danger. I mean how ungrateful, she could have been in a shooting instead,