|
|
|
$17 Million Verdict Upheld, Impacting Volunteerism April 19, 2005 A jury said the Archdiocese of Milwaukee should pay $17 million to an 84-year-old man paralyzed in a car accident caused by a volunteer for the Legion of Mary--a lay organization that meets on church property. Now, a judge has upheld that verdict.
"The chill on volunteer activities will be immediate," wrote Common Good chair Philip K. Howard in a Wall Street Journal op-ed discussing the lawsuit.
Judges need to consider important issues of public policy--like the dependence of charitable organizations on volunteers--when deciding whether or not claims should reach a jury, Howard said. "Just allowing [this] claim to go to the jury will change the behavior of charitable organizations around the country."
In fact, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the Archdiocese is now "examining its policies on allowing community groups to use church property"--something their lawyer calls "terribly painful" for the church.
The Archdiocese intends to appeal the judge's ruling.
Maragaret Morse, the Legion volunteer who caused the accident, was delivering a statue of the Virgin Mary to an invalid when she ran a red light, colliding with the car driven by Hjalmer Heikkinen, a barber. Heikinnen was awarded $1.3 million for medical expenses and $15 million for pain and suffering; his wife was awarded $500,000.
Read "Charity Case," Philip K. Howard's Wall Street Journal oped (March 17, 2005).
Press Coverage of the Archdiocese Case
$17 Million Verdict against Archdiocese Over Crash Upheld, Steve Schultze, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, April 19, 2005
$17 Million Verdict Has Many Concerned, Derrick Nunnally, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, February 23, 2005
| |
