A proposed multimillion-dollar settlement by Virginia to head off lawsuits over the Virginia Tech mass shooting offers $100,000 to each of the families of those killed; payment and insurance for medical and counseling expenses for families and surviving victims; and repeated opportunities to question the governor and university officials, in person, about the tragedy and its aftermath.
The mediated agreement isn't pleasing everyone, though.
"My people are pretty unhappy with it, and I don't blame them," said Edward Jazlowiecki, one of the lawyers representing the family of Henry Lee, a sophomore from Roanoke who was among the 32 students and professors killed by gunman Seung-Hui Cho in the April 16, 2007, attacks.
Like other families, Jazlowiecki's clients fault Virginia Tech for not better warning or protecting students after the first two students were killed.
"One hundred thousand dollars for a human life is an insult, an absolute insult," Jazlowiecki said.
It's also Virginia's legal maximum when suing the state in cases of simple negligence, as opposed to gross negligence or willful misconduct. Juries could be asked to determine which, if any, of these standards applies to the Virginia Tech tragedy if any families decide to sue.
Families and victims already have received payments ranging from $11,500 to $208,000 from the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, created from more than $8 million in donations that poured in for victims and the Blacksburg school after the shootings. Some recipients used part or all of the money to endow memorial scholarships.
The proposed state settlement is still being negotiated and revised, participants said. According to a copy obtained by The Virginian-Pilot and dated March 14, families have until Monday to decide whether to participate. If they do, they agree not to sue the state - including Virginia Tech - the town of Blacksburg, Montgomery County or the local New River Valley Community Services Board, which provides mental-health services.
Roger O'Dell of Roanoke, whose son, Derek, was wounded, said families were asked not to discuss the settlement negotiations. He added that his son has made no decision - he doesn't want to become adversarial toward the school that he loves, but he has been told his lifetime counseling costs could range from $125,000 to $500,000, plus higher health-insurance costs because of his pre-existing conditions.
Post-traumatic stress disorder "could flare up at any time and could be disabling without regular treatment," Roger O'Dell said. "He'll have constant reminders because he'll have the bullet holes."
The proposal seeks to have all agreements signed by April 15 - one day before the first anniversary of the shooting rampage in which disturbed senior Cho killed two students in a dorm and 30 more in Norris Hall classrooms, wounded or injured another 27, and then killed himself.
The proposal also states that "(p)articipation by nearly all claimants is necessary. The Commonwealth may withdraw the proposal if there is insufficient agreement for settling claims on these terms."
Among the terms:
- A Direct Payment Fund that, in addition to paying $100,000 each to representatives of the 32 deceased victims, would provide a total of $800,000 for the injured, with a maximum of $100,000 to any individual.
- A Special Damages Fund to reimburse or advance expenses for medical, psychological and psychiatric care for victims and immediate families that is not covered by insurance.
- An attempt to provide to "seriously injured victims" state employee health insurance at employee rates, which would require changes to the state budget and possibly state law. If that is impossible, negotiations would continue over ways to provide coverage.
- Attempts to provide free or reduced-fee treatment through the University of Virginia or Virginia Commonwealth University health systems, with fees covered by the Special Damages Fund.
- A two-pronged, state-administered $3.5 million Public Purpose Fund. Half of the money would be for charitable purposes, such as campus safety and related grants or remembrance activities, decided on by a board of victims, family members and state officials. The other half would be for payments to victims and family members suffering "severe hardship, injury or loss" from the shootings. A neutral party would evaluate requests, and payments to any individual would be capped at 7.5 percent of the hardship fund. Money left over from the Direct Payment Fund also would go into the Public Purpose Fund.
- The Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, scheduled to close this past December, would remain open for at least five years for new contributions to its scholarship fund.
- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine would meet personally with victims and family members three more times in the next two years before he leaves office to review legislative and administrative actions taken in response to the shootings and other family concerns.
- Within six months of the settlement, victims and families would meet with senior Virginia Tech officials, including President Charles Steger and police Chief Wendell Flinchum, for an overview of campus changes, to ask questions, and to weigh in on April 16 remembrance activities. Also within that time, Flinchum and Virginia State Police would update victims and families on the shooting investigation and answer questions.
- Families would be able to contribute to and review contents of an electronic document archive relating to April 16.
- Lawyers from the Washington firm of Bode & Grenier, representing 20 families, would receive $750,000 in fees plus $50,000 for expenses. Others who had filed notices on behalf of families would receive $25,000.
Several of them, as well as a lawyer in the governor's office overseeing the mediation, either declined to comment or didn't return phone calls Monday.
Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-3893, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com
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clarification
many of my clients released who probably should have been ordered to outpatient, except that wasn't an option. Policy should be made with our heads, not our hearts.
Clarification
As an attorney appointed by the Commonwealth to represent these individuals, I have been defense counsel for hundreds of these people.
Let me point out two things: 1) Mental Commitment hearings are presided over by special justices, not judges. These are basically highly competent attorneys who have been appointed by the Circuit Court in the city in which the hearings are held. 2) All the emotional cries against the mental health system, such as by the guest columnist in today's Pilot, have resulted in a weaker mental health system because people are reacting with their hearts instead of their heads. As defense counsel, I am paid by the state to advocate for these detainees and to protect their rights. If they want to go home, I fight the evidence. If they want to stay, I recommend their volunteering. By taking away the option special justices had prior to Cho of ordering outpatient services, it reduces the justices' options to commitment or release. For borderline cases competent defense counsel can now have an easier time arguing for release because the middle ground ( outpatient services) is no longer an option. Clear and convincing evidence is necessary to commit. I have seen
Sad
How do you put a price tag on your childs head? Hire a laywer. They can reduce any tragic loss to a dollar figure. Are the lawyers looking out for the family's of the children, or their commission. I can guess the answer to that question.
I am looking at different issues
I am looking at this from the "but for" angle. Would this have happened if that lunatic *not even going to use his name* was given proper care would he have gone off on a rampage? NO ONE KNOWS. The truth is, VT could have easily followed all of these and then some and this idiot still could have gone off on a rampage. Would their actions have prevented this? I highly doubt it. Even if they had expelled this guy, there is every possibility that he could have come back and gone off anyway. Then you'd have these people claiming it's VT's fault for expelling him.
The truth of the matter is, they want SOMEONE to blame, anyone and they don't care who they make pay. This is a tragedy but certainly not something that was preventable and this is what I'm looking at. Lets put it down to this, even if there had been a person with a concealed weapons permit who had a gun on campus does not guarantee that this could have been prevented. Perhaps fewer would have died, but people still would have died.
Irrational
Why should your fellow citizens (yes, all of us taxpayers) have to pay a bounty because a maniac killed your child? Every person who gets shot everywhere else doesn't sue their neighbors for revenge. Is it revenge you're seeking or is it just a matter of greed?
falconski, I guess you didn't read the report
I'm not going to paraphrase all that was done wrong (sorry, but your beloved VT did a lot of things wrong). I guess you didn't read the entire report. As a VT parent, you definitely should. I sure as heck would if MY child was going there!
Keep those guns a'comin
clydes1961 wrote 'This is what life insurance is for...' - No, insurance is to help keep the beneficiary financially afloat.
A sucessful civil lawsuit is used to punish a person or entity after no other recourse can be found. To say that there can be no blame assessed
is pure nonsense. And since Virginia has decided to whitewash this, and due to their archaic legal system based on British law that even the Brits don't use anymore, they have effectively proven this. Even the roomomate of Cho said six months before April 16th that he would go postal. Read the report about how the faculty didn't want him in the classroom.
NNHomer wrote 'Unreal. Exactly how much money will make you feel better over losing your child?..' No amount. It is not about the money, but since there has not been one thread of accountability, it usually ends
up about the money. If that bothers you, be a victim of someone's negligence and stupity and we'll talk.
But as I understand it, VA has suffered nothing in comparison to what over 50 families have endured, and has done almost nothing in their behalf. I truly pity the survivors who still hold their alma mater dear,
for I could not be so kind.
Deep pockets
To all that think the taxpayers of Virginia owe these people anything other than our sympathy then I have a solution, you pay the portion of my taxes dedicated to their payout. Better yet, since you obviously have the "deep pockets" then why don't you pay them the money yourself. Making taxpayers pay these people will not solve any problems or create any chnage. The changes to the mental health deficiencies was already taken care of earlier. Pushing for money is not the way to call for a change in state policies. Even suing companies does not make them change, they payout then charge more for their products. The state wil payout and then charge us more in taxes to make up for it. Also, if these lawyers are in it just to ensure this doesn't happen again and not for the money (yeah, right) then why are they charging anything for their services? They should be doing this for free. That would be a real change.
Concealed carry and the media
the reason that you do not hear more stories about law abiding citizens defending themselves with their weapons is because the stories don't rate making the paper or news casts. Dig a little deeper and you will find these numbers. If having a student with a permit and a gun would not have saved any lives then what were the police going to do? were they going to leave their guns at the door and use harsh language when they confronted Cho? I don't think so. Thier are no certainties that the police officer is a marksman either so they can accidentally hurt innocent people as well. I am not saying anything bad about the police and I support them but they are also minutes away when seconds matter. Concealed carry is not for everyone but it is a useful tool.
you brought the report up
And you're saying what wasn't done. I'm asking you exaclty what should've been done. If you think they did it wrong, tell me exactly what they should've done. Come on armchair.
It's already been all laid out, falconski
"What? You think they took the records to area 51 or something?
Let me ask you a question counselor. Exactly what should Tech have done? And please lay it out every step along the way. What was the right thing to do? Don't generalize, lay it alllllllllllll out." You don't find it odd that those records were moved/destroyed? I don't have to "lay it allllllll out" for you what VT should have done. It's all in the report. Did you read it?
They should sue the state and the mental health facility
And they should get millions in damages. I could care less about the taxpayer burden, if that is what it takes to get these idiots in the mental health and court systems to start locking up these lunatics who have been declared dangerous, so be it. Deep pockets cause deep regret and care in the future. That and that alone will save lives in the future from this type of situation again.
Sue the Suers
On behalf all Virginia tax payers who are now the victims of the VT plaintiffs, I propose we sue them to recover any state tax money paid out and plaintiffs be ordered to attend greed counseling.
Class action lawsuit
I'd like to initiate a class action lawsuit against the attorneys for the victims. They are the ones who went after the families and convinced them to sue. Now that my tax dollars are being used to pay the victims and attorney's fees (which you'll notice are several times each families award). Anyone else want to go in on this? It's time that the attorneys pay for their greed.
lawyers
Did they lose 7 1/2 relatives?
Tech didn't shoot anybody.
one more thing b
Don't leave out the part where a judge is the one that sent him BACK to Tech rather than order him to inpatient care. Tech is a University, not a psych ward. They ARE subject to privacy laws and, once again, if Cho wanted to kill, which he did, he was going to kill, which he did. How could he have been stopped. Yes, the state system is flawed, but Tech, once again, is a university.
Couldn't have said it better myself - I owe NOTHING
csh posted earlier - "This is ridiculous. I, Virginia taxpayer, do not owe any of these families *ANY* money at all.
Life is full of unfair events, and it isn't the responsibility of your fellow citizens to pay for it.
The responsible party is dead and gone.
This is what life insurance is for, and honestly, few of the victims had dependents, which is the only valid reason to demand money for death."
I couldn't agree more. I indeed feel sorry for the innocent lives lost, but money will not bring them back. The only "fair" lawsuit would be against the gunman himself - you can't get blood from a stone.
b8416453728564
What? You think they took the records to area 51 or something?
Let me ask you a question counselor. Exactly what should Tech have done? And please lay it out every step along the way. What was the right thing to do? Don't generalize, lay it alllllllllllll out.
Wait a minute, "falconski"
"falconski" writes: "If you look at the facts, they referred Cho through every level of the legal and mental health process required. They also HAD to protect his privacy because of existing laws. It's the laws Dentist Tabor, that Tech did not write, but are subject to just as you and I are. They did everything by the book. A book that VT did not write."
VT did NOT do everything "by the book." There were many steps along the way where they could have *legally* broken confidentiality. VT had an incorrect understanding of FERPA laws. That was evident in the VT report. Did you read that?
And please do tell me how the Cook Counseling Center's losing the records of Cho's THREE triage visits was doing everything "by the book." I continue to be amazed that there are no repercussions for this sloppiness on the part of the staff at the Center. What happened to those records? Who got rid of them and why?
How much will it take?
Unreal. Exactly how much money will make you feel better over losing your child? The only valid argument one can make here is for the professors. Virtually none of the students had dependents. A fair deal would be to compensate the murdered professors for an amount equal to their life insurance and stick with the $100,000 for the students.
If you can get more out of Cho's family (the actual one who did wrong here) go for it!