Simon Law has reached a settlement this week with the City of St. Louis for $450,000 on behalf of an aspiring volleyball player who lost both of her legs after a car driven by a man with multiple illicit drugs in his system sped through a yield sign at an intersection and struck her.
Janae Edmondson was 17 years old at the time of the accident at a downtown intersection in February 2023. She was crossing the street with her parents, who were in town from Tennessee with her for a volleyball tournament. Just weeks after the accident, the city replaced a yield sign at that intersection— that the driver ignored— with a stop sign.
Simon Law attorneys argued in a lawsuit that the city was negligent by installing a yield sign at a low visibility intersection in which drivers’ views are obstructed on both sides by high-rise buildings.
Edmondson’s medical costs are in the millions, with her prosthetics each costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. They will need replacement and constant maintenance for the rest of her life. Missouri laws capping damages limited the amount Edmondson could get in a civil case to $517,316 – regardless of what a jury might award.
“This case – and many others like it – demonstrates why cap laws in this state need to change,” said Simon Law Attorney Kevin Carnie Jr. “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.
“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.”
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 kick off March 3.
“Janae and her family are better off settling for this amount rather than paying the expenses of a trial and then waiting to be paid while the case would work its way through years of appeals,” Carnie added. “Janae needs this money now to cover medical expenses—waiting isn’t a good option—especially when you consider all the interest they would lose out on by waiting years to be paid.
“It’s disappointing that the City would not agree to settle for the maximum amount. But damages cap laws give the City no incentive to do so. If they know their worst day—no matter what the jury awards—is $517,000, why would they ever pay that amount voluntarily? They also know it’s going to cost Janae a lot of money to try the case—so she’s forced to settle. Caps really hurt the most vulnerable, like Janae. It puts victims in a terrible spot—forcing them to settle their cases for way less than is fair.”
The Edmondsons are upset that the city did not settle this case years ago – forcing them to carry the weight of another trial with them.
“They were worried that they would be forced to relive the most terrible moments of their lives on the stand yet again,” Carnie said.
Janae and her parents testified during the criminal trial in which the driver was convicted of causing the crash that severed Janae’s legs. At the time of the crash, he was out on bond, had multiple illicit drugs in his system, and had violated the terms of his house arrest more than 90 times without any efforts by prosecutors to revoke his bond.
Then Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner resigned not long after the high-profile accident shined arguably the most glaring spotlight on years of mismanagement by her administration.
“But under Missouri law, the prosecutors and the City are absolutely immune from lawsuits involving these kind of failures—you can’t sue them for any of that,” Carnie said. “The only claim allowed under the law is the one we brought—failing to design the intersection appropriately.”
The following is a statement from the Edmondsons:
“We’re relieved that we were finally able to resolve this with the City. Given the multiple levels of failure by this City to not only keep this intersection safe, but to keep the criminal who did this to our daughter off the streets, we’re still disappointed that it took this long for the City to step up and do the right thing. The citizens of St. Louis, on the other hand, have been absolutely amazing in their support for Janae and our family, and for that, we will be forever grateful.”
Media Contact:
Christine Byers
Simon Law Director of Marketing & Communications
cbyers@simonlawpc.com
