Oct
31
There’s a twisted tale out of Boca Raton where a parishoner is suing St. Jude Catholic church, saying the pastor reneged on a deal to pay him a commission on a $7 million donation he had procured, according to a story in The Palm Beach Post.
John F. Boyer says the St. Jude pastor agreed to pay him a 15 percent commission. The only problem is that family members of the elderly woman who made the donation had her declared mentally incompetent, voiding the gift.
Oct
30
Judge to decide canker suit
Filed Under Class-action, Palm Beach | Leave a Comment
The Palm Beach County class-action canker suit is now with Judge Robin Rosenberg, who will decide the value of the citrus trees destroyed during the state’s 11-year eradication program, which ended in January 2006, according to a story in The Palm Beach Post.
If Rosenberg decides the state is liable to pay homeowners beyond the $100 Wal-Mart voucher received for the first tree and the $55 for each additional tree, a jury will decide the amount in March.
Robert Gilbert, the attorney representing the lead clients, has argued that the state should pay the 41,000 Palm Beach County residents who are part of the suit, about $400 a tree.
Oct
27
Court computer system a lemon
Filed Under Palm Beach | Leave a Comment
Palm Beach County’s new $13.6 million court computer system is a piece of junk, according to a story in the Palm Beach Post.
It is so bad that Clerk of the Courts Sharon Bock is ready to ditch the system only a year after it was installed. Chief Circuit Judge Kathleen Kroll says she the system can’t even meet basic information needs.
Oct
26
CVB settles suit
Filed Under Palm Beach, Settlements | Leave a Comment
The national accounting firm McGladrey & Pullen and The Hartford insurance company have agreed to pay $710,000 to the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau to settle a claim involving an employee who stole $1.6 million to cover her online gambling habit, according to a story in The Palm Beach Post.
The bureau had already received $250,000 from an earlier settlement with another insurance company.
Oct
25
Two Palm Beach County residents are among dozens across the country who are suing ConAngra foods after they got sick from pot pies made by the company.
West Palm Beach attorney Brian Smith told WPTV Newschannel 5 that he has more than 50 clients in seven states who are suing the company, which makes Banquet pot pies.
Oct
24
Berman has luck of the Irish
Filed Under Palm Beach | Leave a Comment
Former Palm Beach Circuit Judge Howard Berman, these days an assistant state attorney, was on a Delta Connection flight Monday that had its cargo door open up in flight. Berman’s garment bag filled with Notre Dame sweaters flew out of the Atlanta-bound plane but it was found and returned to him. The flight returned to Chicago’s midway airport, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune.
Oct
23
The state has agreed to pay a former Boynton Beach couple $10 million to settle a suit that accused the state of not telling them that the three boys they adopted had been severally abused and traumatized while under state care, according to a story in the Palm Beach Post.
The family’s attorney, Lance Block, told The Post that the settlement was fair.
Had this case been a private entity, it would have settled for many millions more. On the other hand, I have been trying cases against the state of Florida for 23 years, and I never thought I would see the day that the Department of Children and Families would try to get cases settled that should be settled.
The Legislature must still approve the settlement but the family will receive $500,000 upfront, which is the maximum they can receive under the state’s sovereign immunity.
Oct
23
Roofing company sues WPB
Filed Under Palm Beach | Leave a Comment
A Jupiter roofing company filed suit against the city of West Palm Beach, saying that an audit released last month defamed the company by claiming it had overcharged the city for repairs it did on hurricane-damaged homes.
Seal-Tite says the audit has cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in business, according to a story in The Palm Beach Post. The company’s attorney, Michael J. Pike, wrote in the suit that the audit was inaccurate and that the city-run Blue Roof program was poorly run.
Instead of recognizing its own internal shortcomings and lack of controls, the city points the finger at Seal-Tite.
According to the Post, the audit says the company overcharged the city $350,000 for “improper and incomplete work.”
Oct
23
Depending on who you believe the 66,000 Palm Beach County citrus trees removed during the state’s canker eradication program were valued either at $500 million or absolutely nothing.
An expert for the plaintiffs in the class-action suit filed on behalf of Palm Beach County residents who had their trees cut down said large trees were worth as much as $700, according to Susan Salisbury’s story in the Palm Beach Post. A state agriculture official, however, testified that the state’s position is that trees removed during the 11-year program had no value.
Oct
17
Class-action canker suit underway
Filed Under Palm Beach | Leave a Comment
State officials were shocked when they realized that they might have to make their canker removal zone 15 times larger than it was, according to testimony in the class-action suit on behalf of more than 40,000 Palm Beach County households that had citrus trees removed.
According to the Palm Beach Post, a Department of Agriculture official said the expansion of the zone came after the state realized its efforts to eradicate canker were not working.
“We were cutting trees at 125 feet. I thought we would have to double or triple it,” Richard Gaskalla testified Tuesday. “I don’t think anybody was prepared for having to cut out to 1,900 feet.”
The suit was filed in 2002 and seeks to increase the amount residents were compensated for the loss of their trees. Judge Robin Rosenberg is presiding over the non-jury trial.
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