Non-profit to settle with victims of crash
SECOND STREET — A non-profit agency that helps individuals with severe mental illness is close to settling 36 lawsuits filed by victims of the deadly Farmers’ Market crash three years ago.
Sources close to the negotiations said Step Up on Second is prepared to pay the victims $5 million — the total amount available as part of its insurance policy.
Step Up on Second, whose clients were in charge with placing plastic barriers at each of the market’s entrances and exits, is involved in negotiations with attorneys for the victims following Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Valerie Baker’s decision in June to not grant the organization immunity.
Tod Lipka, the chief executive officer of Step Up, would not comment on the negotiations, except to say that a deal is in the works.
“Step Up has contracted with the city of Santa Monica for a number of years to provide support at the Farmers’ Market with such things as cleaning up trash and standing at the barriers,” Lipka said. “For us, the program is an opportunity for Step Up to provide vocational training to our members and give them on the job work experience.
“Since we contract with the city, Step Up was named in the suit,” Lipka added. “While we have believed from the very beginning that Step Up has had no responsibility for the tragedy — in fact Step Up members were victims themselves that day — our insurance company decided the most prudent course of action was to settle the case.”
Step Up was sued along with City Hall, Southland Farmers Market and Bayside District Corp., a management company that oversees downtown along with City Hall.
In a 19-page ruling that took more than three weeks to draft, Judge Baker found City Hall could not be held liable for the accident because it had established and executed a traffic control plan that was approved by a licensed traffic engineer.
Known as design immunity, municipalities are protected in a lawsuit if the design of an intersection, or in this case, a traffic management plan, meets conditions established by law. In this case, Baker ruled that the way in which streets were closed and traffic redirected during the Farmers’Market was acceptable.
City Hall may still have to pay millions in damages because of its relationship with Bayside, which filed a motion to be removed from the case, a motion which Baker denied along with a motion by Step Up.
Southland, which promotes the expansion of farmers’ markets, was also excused from the case, leaving only Bayside, Step Up and George Russell Weller, the 89-year-old who drove his Buick LaSabre through the crowded market on July 16, 2003, killing 10 and injuring 68 others.
Weller’s $500,000 in auto insurance has been made available for victims.
THE JURY’S STILL OUT Weller is currently on trial for 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter. The criminal trial wrapped up Friday and the jury is expected to continue deliberations on Tuesday, as courts will be closed Monday for Columbus Day.
If convicted on all counts, Weller could face up to 18 years in state prison.
Prosecutors contend Weller acted recklessly and failed to use all means at his disposal to direct his sedan away from the market, instead sending it on a deadly collision course.
Defense attorneys claim Weller suffered from “pedal error,”and mistakenly drove into the market, the impact of collisions causing his air bag to deploy, preventing him from gaining control of his car. The incident lasted roughly 20 seconds, defense attorneys said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 7, 2006. Read the original PDF.