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County reaches final settlement in ADA lawsuit June 08, 2011 4:48 AM
Kari C. Barlow
Daily News
Okaloosa County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a final settlement with a man who filed a lawsuit in 2006 to force the Shalimar courthouse annex to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wayne Smith, who uses a wheelchair, served as a juror in 2005 and struggled to get around the aging courthouse annex. The 1970s-era facility was never brought fully into compliance with the ADA law of 1990, which requires that public buildings be accessible to the disabled.
Under the terms of the final settlement, the county will pay Smith $25,000.
Read the settlement » http://richmedia.onset.freedom.com/nwfdn/lmg4vq-8lawsuit.pdf
“We’re very pleased with it because it turned out best for everybody,” said Bob Kerrigan, Smith’s attorney.
Kerrigan said it was unfortunate that litigation was necessary and the annex’s deficiencies weren’t the fault of today’s county commissioners.
He praised the county for going ahead with plans to build the new judicial center now under construction on Lewis Turner Boulevard.
County Administrator Jim Curry said the construction of the new judicial center “is really what allowed this case to be settled.”
“We were facing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees just to litigate this case,” he said
The final settlement also calls for dedicating the jury assembly room in the new judicial center as the “Wayne E. Smith Jury Assembly Room.”
“It’s a high compliment to him,” Kerrigan said.
Smith was never looking for a large payout but instead wanted to “remedy a terrible problem.”
In early April, the county reached a partial settlement with Smith. Under that agreement, Okaloosa paid $55,996.79 of Smith’s $66,814.97 in legal costs. The county also paid $9,225 in attorney’s fees to the firm of Clark, Partington, Hart, Larry, Bond & Stackhouse.
The law firms of Kerrigan, Estess, Rankin, McLeod & Thompson and Keefe Anchors Gordon & Moyle — which represent Smith — waived their fees.
Kari C. Barlow
Daily News
Okaloosa County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a final settlement with a man who filed a lawsuit in 2006 to force the Shalimar courthouse annex to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wayne Smith, who uses a wheelchair, served as a juror in 2005 and struggled to get around the aging courthouse annex. The 1970s-era facility was never brought fully into compliance with the ADA law of 1990, which requires that public buildings be accessible to the disabled.
Under the terms of the final settlement, the county will pay Smith $25,000.
Read the settlement » http://richmedia.onset.freedom.com/nwfdn/lmg4vq-8lawsuit.pdf
“We’re very pleased with it because it turned out best for everybody,” said Bob Kerrigan, Smith’s attorney.
Kerrigan said it was unfortunate that litigation was necessary and the annex’s deficiencies weren’t the fault of today’s county commissioners.
He praised the county for going ahead with plans to build the new judicial center now under construction on Lewis Turner Boulevard.
County Administrator Jim Curry said the construction of the new judicial center “is really what allowed this case to be settled.”
“We were facing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees just to litigate this case,” he said
The final settlement also calls for dedicating the jury assembly room in the new judicial center as the “Wayne E. Smith Jury Assembly Room.”
“It’s a high compliment to him,” Kerrigan said.
Smith was never looking for a large payout but instead wanted to “remedy a terrible problem.”
In early April, the county reached a partial settlement with Smith. Under that agreement, Okaloosa paid $55,996.79 of Smith’s $66,814.97 in legal costs. The county also paid $9,225 in attorney’s fees to the firm of Clark, Partington, Hart, Larry, Bond & Stackhouse.
The law firms of Kerrigan, Estess, Rankin, McLeod & Thompson and Keefe Anchors Gordon & Moyle — which represent Smith — waived their fees.