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• State waived per occurrence tort cap for this specific incident. • State appropriated$36.5 million for fund to compensate victims. A three person panel was created to determine compensation. • Victims who accepted the offer of compensation had to sign a release to the State of Minnesota. • All 179 claimants accepted settlement offers. The Holidazzle Case On December 4, 1998, at the Holidazzle parade in downtown Minneapolis,Minneapolis Police Officer, Thomas Sawina accidentally depressed the accelerator rather than the brake pedal on a police van.The van lurched into a crowd of parade goers, causing two deaths and numerous serious injuries. One girl, age seven,was severely injured,which required the amputation of her right arm at the elbow. The injured girl's family brought suit against the city,Ford Motor Co. (the manufacturer of the van)and Federal Signal Corp. (the manufacturer of a flasher system installed on the van which failed to properly work when Officer Sawina accidentally pressed the accelerator rather than the brake). The Hennepin County jury apportioned liability as follows: 13% 0% •City of Minneapolis •Federal Signal ❑Ford Motor Co. 87% The jury awarded damages to the injured girl of$3.815 million, $30,000 to her injured brother, and $172,455.06 to her father. The district court limited the city's liability under the municipal tort cap statute(Minn. Stat. §466.04)to$750,000 for all claimants in a single occurrence. Thus,the district court awarded the injured girl $300,000(limit for a single plaintiff)and her brother$7,522 and her father$14,185. As to Federal Signal,the district court apportioned liability to it pursuant to the existing joint and several liability statute, (Minn. Stat. §604.02)to 50%of the total verdict amount under the"15 x 4"rule,Federal Signal's 12.5%liability(12.5%x 4). 8