Woman Settles Personal Injury Lawsuit Against Escambia County, Cantonment Football

January 7, 2020

Escambia County and the Cantonment Football Club have settled a lawsuit over an injury at a Cantonment Cowboys football game for $65,000.

The county will pay $45,000 and the football club’s insurance company will pay $20,000.

Following an October 2017 Cantonment Cowboys game, Tonia Moye, a then 47-year old woman, fell from the third row bleacher bench onto a concrete pad, completely shattering her left ankle and breaking her right foot. Moye and two relatives contended the bench board sounded unusual and loose.

About two weeks prior to the incident, Moye underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor that left her completely blind in her right eye and affected her depth perception, according to county documents. After the fall from the bleachers, Moye made statements to EMS personnel and treating physicians that her poor depth perception contributed to her fall.

Moye was represented by a blood relative, Tallahassee personal injury attorney Dana Brooks. Brooks retained a forensic engineer who contended the fall was due to negligence because the bench boards and bolts were not inspected annually as required by Florida Building Code. A video taken shortly after the accident showed the first bleacher board was not connected to the frame and was easily lifted up. In addition, Escambia Parks and Recreation replaced a loose bolt in the area of the third bench board after the accident, according to county documents.

Moye underwent surgery and subsequent treatment including the insertion of rods and screws to stabilize bones at a cost of $115,000. She continues to have pain and significant lack of mobility in her left ankle which has limited her ability to participate in activities that she had enjoyed before the accident such as hiking, walking on the beach, cycling and dancing, county documents state.

“Due to the significant nature of the injuries to Ms. Moye and the possibility that the judge may allow testimony and video evidence concerning the general condition of the bleachers as a·n indication that there was negligent maintenance of the bleachers, this office recommends settlement for the County’s portion of liability in the sum of $45,000,” Escambia Deputy Attorney Charles Peppler wrote in a report to the Escambia County Commission, which signed off on the settlement.

Pictured: Fans in the bleachers watch Cantonment Cowboy football in September 2018. Escambia County and the Cantonment Football Club were sued for a 2017 fall from the bleachers. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.

Comments

7 Responses to “Woman Settles Personal Injury Lawsuit Against Escambia County, Cantonment Football”

  1. Molino Miss on January 8th, 2020 5:06 pm

    As a former County employee I can tell you parks and recs fights for every penny they get. That department does not generate income. Maybe they could get some volunteers to help. They could sign off on liability and have a volunteer day at each of the different parks. The families that have children play at those parks might be generous enough to help

  2. Bill lowerley on January 7th, 2020 11:53 am

    You have to look at our county commissioner they could put more funding in to parks and rec to help with this park. instead of paving the road they brought in this chop up asphalt and it wash away . The baseball fields need tons and tons of clay to bring the field back to good playing fields, the field house needs to be torn down and a new one built and the concession there needs to be redone. then you have the football side that scoreboard looks like it 20 years old and there is pieces missing, the press box is out dated and them bleacher are terrible. and we have all that land behind the park sitting empty county could make that into a walking path. But they are to busy worry about roundabout and beach access then to fix this park! and Commissioner Barry is up for reelection and this is in his district and I have seen him at that park several time he knows how bad it is

  3. mr. Moorison on January 7th, 2020 11:40 am

    Mr. Frank the county parks and rec only give the park a few dump loads of clay a year and your right each one of the fields are in ruff shape I know the people up there do the best they can but when you only get a few loads it not going to last long. I know Commissioner Barry been up there and seen the park and done nothing to help it.

  4. Frank on January 7th, 2020 10:17 am

    The Baseball field has went down over the Last year. The County needs to step up and contribute… The bulk of funds have been spent in the south end of the county…. Check the records… with the exception of recent pavement of Molino park. IT’S A SHAME.

  5. ensley boy on January 7th, 2020 9:57 am

    Her attorney settled for less than the medical bill. That’s qdd.

  6. A mcdaniel on January 7th, 2020 9:33 am

    If you have a brain injury why would you sit on the third bleacher.

  7. Mr. Moorison on January 7th, 2020 9:08 am

    The football part of this part is terrible the county should be ashamed to let it get in this bad of shape. The baseball side has shown great improvement over the past few years. I think football is a separate part maybe let the one running baseball take over.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News