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Legal Settlements Cost State Almost $200 Million In 10 Years

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The Associated Press

Published: October 1, 2007

MIAMI - Lawsuit settlements have cost Florida nearly $200 million in the past decade, more than a third of it in payouts over child welfare cases, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The lawsuits run the gamut, from small claims over faulty parking gates to more costly ones by state employees or job applicants alleging discrimination. Most of them happen quietly and with little oversight, though some in the Legislature get official notices of hefty sums.

'This is big money,' Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said. 'The risk management division is very efficient and it's well-run, but it's very reactive. We need to be more proactive.'

A review of 10 years' worth of records from the state Division of Risk Management shows that Florida has paid $196.2 million to settle lawsuits, The Miami Herald reported.

The Department of Children & Families was responsible for $73 million in settlements, according to the review. The DCF has paid $16 million to settle 29 cases since January alone, the review showed.

The most expensive was $14 million to 20 child abuse victims by one Gainesville woman sentenced to 60 years in prison. Nellie Johnson was accused of unthinkable cruelty - force-feeding until children vomited, beating them with boards and pipes and battering one boy so badly he had a testicle removed.

The state fought the lawsuit until last year, long after Johnson's 2003 conviction.
DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth defended the agency, though the settlements happened before his November election.

'We could delay another three years to where these children who are victims of crime would not receive anything,' Butterworth said. 'That's just not the right thing to do.'

Butterworth, a former state attorney general, has asked his office to review all remaining lawsuits to clear out lingering cases.

Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, said he was glad, but wanted more done to prevent the abuse in the first place.

'I want to know whether this reveals the quality of the care,' Gelber said.

Other settlements included $75,000 to the victim of a sexual assault by a Florida International University police officer and $1.3 million to 13 nurses who said the Department of Corrections didn't prevent inmate sexual harassment.

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