Stripper awarded $8.6 million in DUI case.
shadowcat
Atlanta suburb
Kailee Higgins was paid by Capitol Specialty Insurance, her attorneys wrote in an Aug. 19 filing in U.S. District Court in Worcester, The Telegram & Gazette reported Tuesday.
The payment comes 17 months after a federal judge ruled following a trial that the insurance company broke the law by shoddily investigating the crash and denying Higgins compensation for years.
The crash occurred in Worcester on Nov. 28, 2010. Higgins, who required more than 10 facial surgeries and was left with a diminished mental capacity, had a blood alcohol level of .15, according to records.
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Higgins, 20 at the time, sued, alleging the Centerfolds club in Worcester served her as many as 15 shots that night and was liable for serving her and then letting her drive drunk.
The judge found that Capitol and its senior claims manager conducted a superficial investigation into the crash.
An email from the newspaper to lawyers representing Capitol went unanswered.
The off-duty officer was not charged.
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18 comments
Instead the insurance company tried to save money by not properly investigating and just ruling against the stripper for whatever reason. Hopefully this will at least make some insurers think twice about their shady practices, but I doubt it will stop them.
Thank goodness for more enlightened states like FL.
Cash she suffered a serious head injury, in many ways its worse than dying for the person and their extended family. My step-daughter's head injury ended every single plan my wife and I ever had; forever. It controls where we live; where we work; where we will retire; when we will retire and when and where we vacation; ruins every holiday; etc.
You get wonderful memories of going to watch her in a coma for 6 months; 3 years of rehab; and 24 and counting years of assisted 24 hour a day care/living. The "best" part was waiting 5 years for her to learn finger language and having her first complete sentence to her Mom be: "please kill me". That's diminished mental capacity.
I apologize for my crude attempt at humor. I was out of line.
Totally unnecessary, totally preventable, and the subsequent dram shop verdict against the establishment was totally deserved, as was this one.
Skibum - sorry to hear of what you and the wife have gone through with your stepdaughter. I'm sure it has been unimaginable hell.
I’m sure that’s got to be rough I couldn’t imagine my life if I had a tragedy like that, the well being of my children is the only thing that ever really made me worry as an adult
Kudos on
If to both you and your wife for being strong enough to deal with such an issue hope you never again have to deal with such a pain
Sane laws sure. But that description doesn't apply to Nanny State dram shop laws. It's neither desirable nor practical to force bartenders and waitresses to become babysitters. The primary beneficiaries of those laws are insurance companies, who have doubtlessly ratcheted up liability premiums after that award, and civil litigation attorneys.
Nor has it ever made much sense to me that a girl could be old enough to vote, die for her country, assume legal obligations and have grown men try to stick two fingers up her ass in a VIP, but not be allowed to have a drink.
What happened in this case was a shame for sure. But she did it to herself. Yes the bar was not supposed to serve her, but it's not like she was 15 either. She was a 20 year old woman getting naked on the stage. This shit is really getting out of hand now. Thank goodness for saner states like FL.