South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Karl Lambert is suing is suing a former St. Lucie County Fire District firefighter-paramedic for Florida personal injury. Lambert lost part of his leg and his foot in a 2008 traffic crash. He wants compensation from Cynthia Economou, who admits that she did take the foot from St. Lucie County car accident site on I-95.
Economou took the foot, which was trapped in the wreckage, to help train her dog in body recovery. She says that the foot was “unrecognizable” when she found it and that she considered it unusable, which is why she didn’t give it to her commander.
However, Lambert contends that if the found body part had been delivered to the West Palm Beach hospital, the possibility of reattachment could have at least been explored. He is also suing the St. Lucie County Fire District for Florida personal injury on the grounds that it was “vicariously liable” for Economou’s actions while on the job.
Economou has pleaded no contest to the criminal charge of second-degree petit theft and she is no longer working for the district’s fire department. She maintains that she never meant to cause Lambert any harm.
Lambert is seeking unspecified St. Lucie County personal injury damages.
Florida Personal Injury
To prove negligence in Florida, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant was obligated to behave according to a certain standard to protect others from risk of injury and that this duty was breached, serving as the proximate cause of the personal injury that the plaintiff ended up sustaining. A plaintiff that proves a defendant was negligent may be entitled to not just compensatory damages but also punitive damages.
Former St. Lucie paramedic who took foot from crash site sued by victim, TCPalm, March 7, 2011
Excuse me? That’s my foot – even if it’s not still attached, MSNBC, March 8, 2011
Related Web Resources:
St. Lucie County Fire District
Severed limb Q&A, The Telegraph
More Blog Posts:
Man Files Florida Personal Injury Lawsuit After Losing Penis In Industrial Accident, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, February 27, 2011
Man’s Legs Severed in Miami Car Accident, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, January 19, 2011