LAWSUIT
Jan 5, 2008 - An eighth lawsuit Beaufort County School District may go to mediation.
The previous seven cases were settled for about $4.8 million -- about $4.6 million from taxpayers and $200,000 from United National Insurance, a former district insurance company. In all eight cases, both the victims and their parents filed claims against the school district.
All of the lawsuits were a result of sexual abuse by Philip Underwood-Sheppard who was sentenced to 25 years for abuse of nine students. Two other lawsuits may be in the works.
Mar 5 - The eighth victim has rejected the district's $300,000 settlement offer and the suit is moving toward arbitration. The victim rejected the offer because the seven other victims in the Underwood-Sheppard case each received on average about $1.2 million after they sued.
"The district plans to pay for this settlement with its own cash," according to the newspaper.
TT - Since the insurance company won't cover anything beyond the first $300,00, they are, in fact, paying with TAXPAYER money. They can sue the insurance company, or threaten it, winning is something else. And don't they just know that?
We still would like to know why the school district is liable. It isn't the first time we, or one newspaper have asked the question. Unfortunately, the Beaufort Gazette is blithely unconcerned about the district's actions that lead to the lawsuits. You would think they would, wouldn't you? And why they don't is yet another very, very interesting question.
