Subject:  $8 mil verdict appealed.... give me a break |
Author:
Chris
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Date Posted: 10/20/05 5:29pm
I thought this was over and done with, they should just up, they were in the wrong big time!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
$8 million verdict in death appealed
Michigan Supreme Court will hear dispute over settlement in case involving fraternal order's event in Howell.
By Steve Pardo / The Detroit News
The Supreme Court will hear the case on the sixth floor of the Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing. Court will convene at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
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HOWELL -- The Michigan Supreme Court will hear opening arguments Wednesday in a case stemming from the death of a 2-year-old boy and an $8 million verdict against the Grand Aerie Fraternal Order of Eagles.
On April 29, 2000, Lacey Harter was attending a Family Fun Day at Eagles Hall #3607 in Howell with her 2-year-old son, Kegan McClelland. Kegan fell into a 3-foot-wide septic tank opening at the organization's fund-raiser picnic. The 7-foot-deep tank was uncovered at the time.
Harter and Keegan's father, Mike McClelland, sued, hiring Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger and his firm of Fieger, Fieger Kenney & Johnson. The law firm sought $25 million. In November 2001, a default judgment was entered by the Livingston County Circuit Court against the Grand Aerie. A jury awarded the family about $8 million.
Fieger criticized the national organization after the trial, saying it wouldn't take responsibility for its actions.
"This was a hole in the middle of a playground at Family Fun Day. . Can you imagine?" Fieger said after the verdict.
In October 2002, Livingston Circuit Judge Daniel Burress rejected a challenge to throw out the November 2001 verdict, saying the case was fairly tried and the judgment -- which ended up at $8.36 million -- was justified.
Attorneys for the Grand Aerie then appealed. The Court of Appeals judges, in a 2-1 decision, affirmed the trial court judgment.
Now, Detroit attorney John Jacobs, representing the fraternal organization, hopes the Supreme Court will overturn the decision.
Jacobs, who predicted the case would end up in the state's top court as early as three years ago, contends the national organization should not have been ruled liable for actions that occurred at the Howell chapter.
Jacobs declined to comment last week, saying he didn't feel it was appropriate to comment days before heading to the Supreme Court.
"There is utterly no question but that the Grand Aerie had no knowledge regarding or control of or ability to control the local Aerie's Howell #3607 installation of the septic riser lid," Jacobs wrote in his briefs to the Supreme Court.
Jacobs also said in his briefs that the default judgment was "draconian, to say the least."
You can reach Steve Pardo at (517) 552-5503 or spardo@detnews.com.
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