Eleven million dollars. This is the value of the settlement reached between most families of victims from April 16 and the Commonwealth of Virginia, designed to compensate for the lost lives and medical costs that occurred from the shootings.
Peter Grenier and Douglas Fierberg, lawyers representing 21 families in the case, said in a press release that they were pleased with the settlement outcome.
Although they did not want to disclose details while finalizations were currently being made, Edward Jazlowiecki, a lawyer for the family of slain student Henry Lee, said the original proposal had not changed.
The agreement had been offered as a means of avoiding lawsuits for gross negligence, which at least 20 families had warned of filing by the April 16 deadline date. Gov. Tim Kaine acknowledged in a press release that a "substantial majority of the victims and victims' families" had accepted the state's offer.
However, Jazlowiecki said the rest of the families and those severely injured in the shootings who don't agree with the newly reached settlement are still free to file notice of suit by next Wednesday. "The point is, nobody's really satisfied with the agreement; the only thing is some people don't have the intestinal fortitude to go through another two or three years of this, and I don't blame them," Jazlowiecki said. "I have great admiration for families that aren't going to buckle under and take the lousy settlement, and they're going to sue the state."
He expressed his great dissatisfaction with the settlement offer, saying each of the 32 families who lost someone should receive a figure around $2 to 3 million rather than $100,000 each.
"The state doesn't do anything to benefit anything but the state, they don't care about their population, they could care less," Jazlowiecki said. "This is another thing they're trying to buy off as cheaply as possible, and it's business as usual; I mean the whole Virginia Tech massacre will bear the mark of Kaine forever."
For many months, Tech has worked closely with the state to seek an agreement and will be included with the state if the lawsuits are filed.
"President Steger has said before that he believes that a mutually agreeable settlement is in the best interests of the university and the commonwealth and the individuals who have been most severely affected by it," said university spokesman Larry Hincker.
Roger O'Dell, father of junior biology major Derek O'Dell, who had been injured in the shootings, said he didn't want his son to have to deal with further reminders of his experiences on April 16. "I think the bad part of it is that a lot of people who did accept it, victims, or the families of victims, just wanted it to be over with, and wanted to get it behind them," said Roger O'Dell. "That would be one more step toward closure."
O'Dell also said that his son's memories are very difficult to live with.
"Because he has such a vivid recollection of what happened, he had such a good view of what happened, he would almost certainly be called to testify in court," O'Dell said. "So for him, he might even have to relive it on the witness stand if it were to go to court."
He noted, however, that it probably wouldn't get that far, as settlements would continue to be proposed to those who actually file notice of a suit. Gordon Hickey, press secretary to Gov. Kaine, said that the completion of the settlement finalization process is unknown at this time.
Settlement highlights:
- The state will cover present and future medical and psychological needs of victims and immediate families of victims by establishing a Special Damages Fund.
- The governor will meet with victims and families of victims three more times over the next two years to review and discuss legislation that responded to April 16.
- Within six months of settlement approval, victims and families of victims will be able to meet with senior Virginia Tech officials, including President Charles Steger and Police Chief Wendell Flinchum to discuss and ask questions regarding changes made to campus since April 16. Within this time, Flinchum will also provide a briefing of the April 16 investigation.
- The Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund will remain open for further contributions to its scholarship fund for at least five more years.
- $100,000 will be given to each of the families of those who were killed, and $800,000 total will be allocated to injured victims based on the severity of their injury, with a maximum of $100,000 going to each of these individuals.
- A Public Purpose Fund amounting to $3.5 million will be divided into two parts, one being a charitable fund and one being a hardship fund from which victims and family members will be distributed money on an individual basis, depending on their situations. There is a distribution limit of 7.5 percent of the total hardship fund to each family.
- Bode & Grenier, L.L.P, who represent 21 families, will receive $750,000 for fees, along with $50,000 in expense reimbursements.
A copy of the settlement was provided by an anonymous source related to the negotiations.