An Alachua County man was awarded $120 million Thursday by a jury in a lawsuit over a crash involving a Gainesville Regional Utilities employee.
Jacob T. Rodgers won the award against the city of Gainesville for a 2015 crash in which GRU employee William Stormant, driving a city vehicle, ran through a stop sign and slammed into a pickup truck in which Rodgers was a passenger.
Jurors awarded Rodgers more than $16 million for the expenses, loss of income, mental anguish and other factors that he has already incurred and more than $103 million for future expenses and losses, the verdict form shows.
However, the principle of sovereign immunity in holding government agencies liable in lawsuits caps payout at $200,000.
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Three economists analyze the pitfalls, highlights and what we learned
It’s been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic turned the ways we work and play upside down. For many Georgians, it’s been a year of lost wages, working from home and remote learning.
But for all the change and anxiety there were bright spots too, said economists at the University of Georgia.
Three economic experts from the Terry College of Business (Ramsey Chair of Private Enterprise William Lastrapes, Selig Center for Economic Growth Director Jeff Humphreys and labor economist Ian Schmutte) share what went right, what went wrong and what we learned from a year of the COVID economy.
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Volunteers at the New City Church food pantry in Peachtree City distribute dry goods, fresh vegetables and frozen meats to waiting cars outside the food pantry on December 16, 2020. (Jenni Girtman/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)
Troubling measurement of pandemic economy: Food pantry lines
He had a heartbreaking amount of company.
His hours as a customer service agent at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport have been cut 25% as the pandemic deflated travel demand. When you make $11.60 an hour after years on the job, every paid hour is precious. His $900 in savings dwindled to $25. A friend lent him $30 to help pay his phone bill.