Parkland families must turn over some records
Judge rules some mental-health documents will need to be disclosed
The victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, and their families, will have to turn over some records of their mental health treatment since the tragedy, a Broward judge ruled Thursday.
But it’s not clear how many victims will have to comply, or howmuch information they will have to disclose as part of a lawsuit accusing the Broward School Board of failing to protect the students fromthe shooter’s Valentine’s Day 2018 rampage.
Broward Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning saved the most contentious issues of her ruling for a later date, giving the Broward School Board and the plaintiffs a chance towork it out before she issues a comprehensive ruling that could leave both sides unhappy.
School Board lawyer Eugene Pettis defended the demand for the documents, arguing that it is impossible for the board to defend itself against the plaintiff’s allegations of mental anguish and post-traumatic stress.
The school district in March specified which documents they would be looking for, including mental health evaluations, and plaintiffs objected ahead of Thursday’s hearing, which illustrated just how complicated and grueling the legal case is proving to be, with dozens of victims joined together, from those who lost relatives to those who were wounded to those who witnessed the shooting and suffer PTSD.
Pettis noted that both sides in the case agreed to a mutual discovery process — a routine legal requirement for the litigants to provide relevant information and documents — over a year ago. Both sides also worked on a confidentiality agreement that would keep sensitive material, including physical and mental health records, from the prying eyes of the public.
“These families will never have to read about their business and their personal matters in the public sector,” he vowed.
Settlement talks, Pettis indi
cated,
The district’s liability is capped at a total of $300,000 unless a jury awardsmore and the Legislature passes a bill authorizing a higher sum.
About 65 people attended the Zoom hearing. The judge appeared to be conducting the session from her home amid the pandemic.
Pettis explained that it would be inappropriate to use some kind of template to determine the impact on individual families, saying it is unique for each individual.
Sometimes the wife or mother, he said, has suffered a different form of grief than the father. “Each of these people has the right to express their unique impacts or losses ...”
The district appears to be seeking the records to help guide their questioning in taking depositions from the families. But another lawyer argued that the district will just as likely steer away from such questioning because of the obvious damage the families have suffered.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime, was one of 17 killed in the shooting, urged the judge to keep the records from the school district.
“We are broken. We are suffering,” he said. “The district does not need receipts on that. My daughter is in a cemetery.”
Ilan Alhadeff, whose daughter, Alyssa, was murdered and whose wife, Lori, was elected to the Broward School Board in the political aftermath of the shooting, made a similar plea.
“There’s no document out there that can tell you we are not suffering, or that can tell you how much we are,” he said.
The judge ordered plaintiffs to prepare paperwork that will speed up the availability of the records if she sides with the school district. have not been fruitful.