Rep. Rick Kriseman (D-53) is a member of the Florida House of Representatives and an attorney with Saunders & Walker PA
If Representative Dave Murzin has his way, there will be no reason for an insurance company to act in good faith when attempting to settle a personal injury claim.
Currently, Florida Statute 624.155 sets forth the manner in which an injured person who is treated unfairly by an insurance company may pursue a civil action against that insurance company for their bad faith behavior.
624.155 states that “any person” may bring a civil action against an insurer when that person is damaged by certain actions undertaken by the insurance company. Under Rep. Murzin’s bill, this language has been changed to limit that right only to the insured. So how does this change affect an injured party?
Say I am in an auto accident caused by Joe Driver, and I receive significant injuries. I make a claim with Joe Driver’s insurance company, Neverpay Insurance. Neverpay makes me a settlement offer which fails to fairly compensate me for my injuries. Under the proposed legislation, I would have no rights against Neverpay for failing to settle my claim in good faith.
Despite the fact that the bill attempts to take away the rights of third parties to pursue an insurance company for bad faith, in another section of the bill, it adds language which attempts to require that third party to “fully cooperate” with the insurance company, with failure to do so providing a defense to the carrier.
It is important to note that there is no such requirement on the insurance company, nor is their a contractual relationship between a third party and the insurance company. In fact, by nature of the claim, there is a recognized adversarial relationship between an insurance company and the third party. For example, if the third party gave a recorded statement to the insurance company, and then requested a copy of that statement from the insurance company, the company could refuse to provide the third party with his/her statement. Under this bill, the third party, if she/he was able to obtain a statement from the insurance company’s insured, would be required, if requested, to provide the insurance company with a copy of their insured’s statement.
The bill also changes the length of time an insurance company has to correct its bad faith conduct. Under current law, insurance companies must correct their conduct within 60 days of receipt of a civil remedies notice. Under Rep. Murzin’s bill, that time period has been extended to 90 days, thus giving insurance companies an additional 30 days with which to hang onto their money.
The bill also requires the party filing the civil remedies notice to state the amount he/she claims is owing. This section may have the effect of limiting the amount that the injured party can recover should the insurance company fail to remedy its conduct.
The bill also abolishes the long standing common law cause of action for bad faith, limiting the injured party to a statutory claim only.
These are just some of the highlights (or lowlights) found in this bill (there are more). Without trying to sound too melodramatic, should this bill pass the legislature and be signed into law, insurance carriers would lose all incentive to fairly and timely settle injury claims. If that happens, good luck to us all.

The Saunders & Walker Justice Network is pleased to announce the launch of our dedicated priest abuse and molestation website http://abuseadvocate.com
Here you will find a wide variety of information related to the archdiocese on NY as well as catholic church and diocese from all across America. We invite and encourage participation in our new abuse and molestation forum where child and adult victims of clergy abuse are safe to express themselves freely on a wide variety of topics including sexual abuse and molestation in the catholic church. Our forum is open to all victims of sexual abuse and molestation and will not be limited to abuse lawsuits or those who were victims of priest or clergy abuse.
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Sexual Abuse & Molestation Lawsuit Website

Victims of child sexual abuse took one step closer to being able to bring their abusers to court after a close 11-8 vote in the Codes Committee of the NY Assembly. The sponsor of the legislation, Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth) was guardedly optimistic after the committee vote. She undoubtedly knows that the next few weeks will see an unprecedented onslaught by Catholic lobbyists who oppose the sex abuse measure. The Catholic Church is fighting the bill because in the past many lawsuits against the Catholic Church were dropped or dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. If the Child Victims Act becomes law, those same lawsuits and most likely many more would be able to be brought against the six dioceses and one archdiocese in New York.

In a potentially important development, the Orthodox Union in New York has made a statement that it will not oppose the Child Victims Act presently under consideration in the NY State Legislature. Today, the bill is supposed to be voted on in committee before heading to the full assembly, if it makes it out of the committee.
Since there have been a recent spate of sexual abuse allegations against New York rabbis, the announcement is somewhat of a surprise, albeit a welcome one. The statement of the Union notes that those who’ve been sexually abused have a right to pursue justice in a court of law.
The Catholic Church remains staunchly opposed to the legislation and the 7 dioceses, including the Archdiocese of New York have lobbied hard in opposition to the measure.

Retired Rockville Centre Catholic priest Kenneth Hasselbach has been arrested in Hollywood Florida for possessing child pornography on his two computers. The US Attorney’s office stated that Hasselbach has admitted to the child porn on his computers as well as carrying on conversations with minor boys in Internet chat rooms.
Hasselbach retired in 1994 due to “medical issues”. However, a sexual abuse allegation was lodged against him in 1993 by Robert Sammarco. Sammarco came forward with the sex abuse allegation in 1993. For years, Sammarco didn’t come forward because the Catholic priest had threatened to expose him and the abuse he suffered at the hands of the priest. The abuse lasted from the time Sammarco was 12 until he was 17 years old.
In a 2002 interview with Newsday, the priest admitted abusing Sammarco although he downplayed it by saying Sammarco exaggerated it.
In the midst of this latest arrest, the New York State Legislature is considering a bill that would allow survivors like Robert Sammarco to bring their abusers to justice. This bill would create a one-year window during which the five-year statute of limitations on filing lawsuits in child sex abuse cases would be dropped. This would allow alleged victims to file lawsuits in the state regardless of when the abuse occurred. The bill would also extend the statute of limitations for future cases from five years to 10 years. It is counted from the alleged victim’s 18th birthday, meaning they would have until 28 years of age to file a lawsuit instead of 23.
For courageous men who’ve suffered too long, I urge the NY State Legislature to pass the Child Victims Act. This case is one of thousands in NY where lives have been devastated by sexual abuse. Priests like Hasselbach need to pay for their crimes and dioceses like Rockville Centre need to be held accountable for their lack of action and secrecy. In spite of the 1993 allegation, Rockville Centre allowed this priest to “retire” to Florida where he now stands charged with possessing child pornography on his computer. We don’t know if he continued to abuse children in the 16 years since Robert Sammarco’s revelation.

Medtronic Inc. has admitted that deaths related to their defective Sprint Fidelis leads has actually risen to 13. The Sprint Fidelis leads were pulled from the market in 2007 after doctors and patients complained of malfunctioning pacemakers that are supposed to keep the cardiac rhythms stable. However, the Sprint Fidelis leads were prone to breaking thereby causing a short in the lead. When the leads fracture they can either fail to provide the electric current to the heart or conversely send multiple shocks to the heart. According to a report in the Wall St. Journal, “four of the 13 deaths resulted from attempts by doctors to pull out Sprint Fidelis leads — highlighting the risk of extraction surgery. The leads typically scar onto the inner vein wall leading to the heart, or can scar onto the heart itself. Either way, pulling them out can result in lethal bleeding. For that reason, the company still does not recommend extraction in most cases.”

Rep. Rick Kriseman (D-53) is a member of the Florida House of Representatives and an attorney with Saunders & Walker PA
If some in the Legislature have their way, businesses will be able to conduct their business in a negligent fashion and be immune from liability for that behavior.
Representative Mike Horner and Senator Steve Oelrich have filed bills (HB363 and SB886) which authorize “natural guardians to waive and release, in advance, any claim or cause of action that would accrue to any of their minor children..”
Let me explain how this would work. Joe Smith and his 15 year old son decide they want to go jet skiing. They go to the marina where the Jet Ski rental store is located, and Joe signs a release form for himself and his son (since his son is still a minor and cannot sign a legal document which is binding on his own).
Joe and his son are then given the keys to two jet skis, and are lead to where the jet skis are located in the marina. Joe puts on his life vest and makes sure his son puts on his vest, as Joe is a very cautious father. Joe and his son then mount their jet skis, start the engines, and drive the jet skis out of the marina into open waters.
After 10 minutes of riding the jet skis, the steering locks on the jet ski Joe’s son is riding, and as a result of the steering locking, the jet ski crashes into a dock, causing serious injury to Joe’s son.
The Marine Patrol investigates the crash and determines that the jet ski had not been properly maintained by the rental company, and as a result of the negligent maintenance of the jet ski, the steering locked causing the accident.
Under CURRENT Florida law, the release signed by Joe for his son would be unenforceable, as a parent cannot waive or release the negligent act of another on behalf of his/her minor child. However, should HB363/SB886 pass the legislature this year, Joe would have no cause of action against the jet ski rental company, thereby giving the jet ski rental company a free pass for it’s negligent conduct.
This is a bad bill for Floridians, a bad bill for children, a bad bill for consumers, as it encourages bad behavior by unscrupulous businesses, who could act in a negligent fashion with no right to redress for that bad behavior. We, as adults, are mature and, hopefully, wise enough to decide for ourselves if we want to waiver negligent behavior. But our children are not. We can only hope the legislature does not reward bad behavior by passing these bills.
If some in the Legislature have their way, businesses will be able to conduct their business in a negligent fashion and be immune from liability for that behavior.
Representative Mike Horner and Senator Steve Oelrich have filed bills (HB363 and SB886) which authorize “natural guardians to waive and release, in advance, any claim or cause of action that would accrue to any of their minor children..”
Let me explain how this would work. Joe Smith and his 15 year old son decide they want to go jet skiing. They go to the marina where the Jet Ski rental store is located, and Joe signs a release form for himself and his son (since his son is still a minor and cannot sign a legal document which is binding on his own).
Joe and his son are then given the keys to two jet skis, and are lead to where the jet skis are located in the marina. Joe puts on his life vest and makes sure his son puts on his vest, as Joe is a very cautious father. Joe and his son then mount their jet skis, start the engines, and drive the jet skis out of the marina into open waters.
After 10 minutes of riding the jet skis, the steering locks on the jet ski Joe’s son is riding, and as a result of the steering locking, the jet ski crashes into a dock, causing serious injury to Joe’s son.
The Marine Patrol investigates the crash and determines that the jet ski had not been properly maintained by the rental company, and as a result of the negligent maintenance of the jet ski, the steering locked causing the accident.
Under CURRENT Florida law, the release signed by Joe for his son would be unenforceable, as a parent cannot waive or release the negligent act of another on behalf of his/her minor child. However, should HB363/SB886 pass the legislature this year, Joe would have no cause of action against the jet ski rental company, thereby giving the jet ski rental company a free pass for it’s negligent conduct.
This is a bad bill for Floridians, a bad bill for children, a bad bill for consumers, as it encourages bad behavior by unscrupulous businesses, who could act in a negligent fashion with no right to redress for that bad behavior. We, as adults, are mature and, hopefully, wise enough to decide for ourselves if we want to waiver negligent behavior. But our children are not. We can only hope the legislature does not reward bad behavior by passing these bills.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre’s spokesperson has characterized the NY State Legislature’s Child Victims Act as an attempt to attack the Catholic Church by bankrupting it. Other NY Catholic lobbyists, including Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre trudged up to Albany to complain that passage of the legislation would be financially ruinous for Catholic education and healthcare.
These are the same old arguments the Catholic Church has used in Boston, California, San Diego. These arguments are an attempt to deflect attention from the real advantage of such legislation: bringing the abuse of priests into the light of day as well as holding the Catholic Church accountable for the transfer and cover-up of criminal sexual acts. The Catholic lobbyist argument is a bogus one aimed at keeping the attention away from the real issue: the priest abuse scandal during which thousands of young lives have been ruined by the sexual molestation of Catholic priests.
Why should anyone take this line of argument seriously? If Bernie Madoff attempted to escape criminal or civil liability for his crimes due to the possibility of insolvency would we let him off the hook and absolve his crimes. Would we excuse rapists and murderers for the same reason.
Our system of justice demands acountability from those who would seek to damage our citizens. It’s a system that works. I hope the NY State legislators won’t be intimidated or threatened by the Catholic Church onslaught.

Monsignor Alan Placa was not only a civil lawyer but a highly placed priest in the administration of the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre New York. The Bishop, William Murphy, himself an underling to Cardinal Law in Boston, understood and appreciated the importance of a top lieutenant capable of handling the priest abuse storms and media inquiries. First and foremost, Murphy knew Placa understood that his first duty was to protect the institution of the church at all costs. Placa even admitted as much to the mother of a victim when he coldly told her, “My job is to protect the Bishop.”
Yet Placa had another side. He was an abuser himself. In order to continue the lifestyle by which he could entice young boys, he had to have access to money. So he befriended Rudy Guiliani. The former Mayor of New York accepted the friendship and had Placa baptize his children and annul his first marriage. The two became close and the relationship worked to the advantage of both ambitious men. Placa’s dark side included abusing young boys even though he was supposed to be the Bishop’s point person in dealing with allegations of priest abuse.
It was a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house. Placa is named in the 2003 Suffolk Grand Jury Report as “Priest F”. After being relieved of his priestly duties, Guiliani even hired him as a consultant in his powerful New York firm. When news of Placa’s sordid past came to light, many called for his resignation. Guiliani refused to remove his friend and Bishop Murphy never sought his defrocking (laicization from the priesthood). Murphy being from Boston, had seen how his mentor and friend Cardinal Law was rewarded for “hanging in there” in Boston. Law became the titular head of a Roman church with a cushy life and plenty of money. Murphy knew Rome would not punish him for protecting the church so he never made a move against his former lieutenant Placa.
This is how it works in the Catholic Church. Blind loyalty and obedience to the institution is rewarded. Survivors of sexual abuse are to be fought and treated as enemies of the Church. That’s why we need the new law in New York, the Child Victims Act passed into law. As Prof. Marci Hamilton has noted, the new legislation accomplishes two purposes: “First, a window permits victims to identify their perpetrators in public documents. When California had a window in 2003, the public learned the names of 300 predators it had never heard before. Children and families are much safer as a result. Second, it sends victims a message that we as a society believe they were wronged and they have the right to sue those who harmed them. Simultaneously, predators learn that the states passing the legislation will not permit them to continue to operate in the shadows.”

As news of the New York State Legislature’s bill to provide a one year window for sexual abuse victims has caught media attention this week, I’ve found a surprising and disturbing connection between the dioceses of New York and dioceses in Florida. There are a number of priests who were accused of sexual abuse of minors while in New York were transferred to parishes across the state of Florida. Rev. James Russo, formerly a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, came to the Diocese of St. Petersburg in the mid-1970’s. While in NY, he had been accused of abusing altar boys. Yet, St. Petersburg’s former bishop, Thomas Larkin took him in. Russo quickly moved up to top positions in the Diocese of St. Petersburg before being removed from ministry after new allegations of sexual abuse surfaced in Florida.
Rev. Matthew Fitzgerald and Rev. Salvatore Miraglia, both of Rockville Centre worked in Florida parishes after abusing minors in New York.
Brother Jorge Acosta, a Salesian Brother, was transferred from New York after the Salesians had learned of credible sex abuse allegations in Tampa. He was transferred to Mary Help of Christians in Tampa where he abused more young boys.
Rev. Polienato Bernabe was an Army chaplain in the Diocese of Ogdensburg before being sent to St. Petersburg where he abused young boys.
Another Salesian, Brother William Burke was accused of sexual abuse while in NY but allowed to work in Florida (Mary Help of Christians) where he abused more boys. Richard McCormick, another Salesian, was accused of inappropriate behavior at St. Pete Catholic High and transferred back to New York.
Rev. Terrance O’Donnell, a Salesian priest was also accused of abusing numerous boys at Mary Help of Christians. He’s another NY priest.
A Claretian priest, Rev. Ronald Luka, was accused of abusing boys at a school in Ft. Lauderdale after abusing other boys in a school in New York.
Hopefully, the 2009 NY Child Victims’ Act will be signed this year. We need this law in order to protect children everywhere, not just in New York. Unfortunately, current New York law tends to protect priest abusers and the institutions that transferred them. Florida families and children need this New York law just as much as New Yorkers do. Too many New York priest abusers have been moved to Florida where they’ve molested again and again. It’s high time for a change.
New York NY Priest Abuse Attorney