Attorney obtains six-figure settlement for teen who lost legs, warns of capped damages

Kevin Carnie Jr., an attorney with the Simon Law Firm, obtained a $450K settlement with the city of St. Louis on behalf of his client, a 17-year-old girl who lost both her legs. The settlement was a capped damages case and represents only a fraction of her future medical costs, he said.

Janae Edmondson was crossing the street at a downtown St. Louis intersection with her parents who were in town for her volleyball game, when a car — which was driven by a man with illicit drugs in his system — sped through a yield sign and struck her, according to the firm.

“We alleged that the city should have had a stop sign at that intersection instead of a yield sign, because of the limited visibility as cars were approaching that intersection due to the high-rise buildings in the area,” Carnie said.

Edmondson lost both of her legs and the cost for her prosthetics is hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving her total future medical costs in the millions. Carnie said they reached an agreement in principle to settle for $450,000.

Because of a Missouri law capping damages against government agencies in civil cases at $517,316, Edmondson is unable to obtain more for her pain, suffering and ongoing treatment.

“That cap is nowhere close to being high enough to compensate Janae for what she’s been through, what she’ll continue to go through and not to mention all her medical expenses,” Carnie said.

According to a news release from the Simon Law Firm, Carnie said the Edmondsons decided to settle the case for $67,000 less than the capped amount in part because of the cost of taking it to the trial, which was scheduled to begin March 3.

“This case — and many others like it — demonstrates why cap laws in this state need to change. Janae deserves to be compensated appropriately for her injuries — a one size fits all damages cap doesn’t come anywhere close to fairly compensating her,” Carnie said.

“It’s sad that lawmakers in our state’s capital decided to shield government agencies from accountability when preventable tragedies like this happen because of their negligence.”