On the 29th of June 2007, I reported that the Woodlawn VFD and the Hamburg Municipal Hockey Association were being sued by the Drew family for serving alcohol to a minor, at a party sponsored by HMHA but held at the Woodlawn VFD Banquet Hall. The minor then got into her car and hit the Drew Family head on causing major injuries to the Drew family.
http://hamburgfirst.wordpress.com/?s=woodlawn
The case was litigated and through negotiations and court appearances it is documented and now reported that the HMHA was removed as a defendant because they had nothing to do with the serving of the alcohol. They simply contracted with the fire department to rent the facility and the fire department would take complete control and run the bar.
So even though this was an HMHA function they are not being held liable for any injuries or damages in the case.
It is reported and litigated and now fact, that a young woman, Ms. Kapusczak was under 21 years old at the time and was served alcoholic beverages at this party. She then got in her car and was involved in a vehicular accident causing injuries to the Drew Family. She was charged with multiple violations at the scene. These facts were stipulated to and the Woodlawn VFD accepted all blame and also admitted full responsibility according to the legal file at the Erie County Clerks Office.
Today I spoke to Judge Drury, who heard the case, outside his chambers and he told me the details. So all this is now fact. Woodlawn VFD offered approximately $375,000 to settle the case and the Drew family countered with about $425,000. The two sides couldn’t settle the 50K difference so this case went to a jury trial.
The interesting part was that since the fire department admitted all guilt and responsibility the Drew family was not allowed to call witnesses to the accident in front of the jury. Liability was already established so the only thing that was left to determine was the damages. I was told there was a brief argument to the jury by both sides and then the jury was sent to deliberate on how much money to award.
The legal strategy to admit guilt from the beginning probably saved the Woodlawn Fire Department from a multi-million dollar award. Because the jury didn’t get to hear about all the pain and suffering and the particulars of the accident. They were only left to decide a cash amount they thought would be fair. In the end the Woodlawn Volunteer Fire Department and Ms. Kapusczak are now ordered to pay the Drew family a little more than $460,000. Ms. Kapusczak’s car insurance covers only $25,000 of the award. So Woodlawn VFD is stuck with paying out the remaining amount, approximatly $435,000.
Question now is….. who is going to pay it? Does the fire department have enough insurance to cover the full cost or do they have to pay out of their own funds? Will they have to raise the districts fire taxes to cover the award or will they have to borrow/bond to pay the money? I don’t know the answer to those questions. I put in a call to Patrick McAnaney, Woodlawn Fire Chief, but my call has not been returned yet. I’ll keep you informed as I get more info.
When you called me to discuss the case, I would have been more than willing to provide you with the answers to the questions presented at the end of your article. Woodlawn Volunteer Fire Company, Inc. has more than ample liability insurance coverage to pay the jury’s award of damages. It should also be noted that the fire company did not “admit guilt from the beginning”; it was only after I filed an extensive motion on behalf of the Drew family, more than two years after the accident, that Woodlawn Vol. Fire Co., Inc. finally conceded liability. Finally, the jury did hear about Mrs. Drew’s pain and suffering at the accident scene, and it was established at trial that this was a “horrific” and “violent” crash. Please feel free to call me with any further questions! Thank you.
I would be interested to know how much funds/cash the Fire Dept. has on hand, along with what Insurance coverage (dollar amount) they are covered for. And regarding Insurance, do all Fire Companies in the town contract with the same insurance company and for what amount. I would assume that the Fire Companies get together for the best rates and coverage –but I may be wrong.
Thanks for looking into this Ford
My child has been playing in the house league for a number of years. I noticed that in the last 3 years HMHA went from having a banquet at Michael’s with a nice trophy presentation for quite a few years to having a pizza party at the Nike Base with just the players team only. I am interested in what this banquet was for and how many other league banquets go on? Why are they without the players? Is so couldn’t they use this for the banquet instead?