I mentioned to a friend that the school offered $100k settlement to each family, and she asked, “why?”
I thought it was a great question. We were and still are deeply saddened by the tragedy, however we find it difficult to see how getting attorneys involved to point the blame finger at the deepest pockets honors their memory.
I guess they say opinions are like you-know-what (everyone’s got one), but ours is that a $100,000 settlement sounded very generous. The overwhelming reaction to this tragedy was national support of the families and support of the school. Why sue?
I work in the insurance industry and usually side with defendants when BI and/or PD are alleged. I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I’ve spoken to many of the students who were there on the day of the shootings. In this instance in my opinion, the injured parties and the plaintiff’s attorneys should prevail because (1) several people charged with the admissions process and administrative process at VA Tech knew Mr. Cho had issues that would probably give rise to this kind of action (2) they took no action to prevent it (3) campus security and local police were very slow to take action to prevent many of the deaths and woundings after the initial shootings occurred. Were I a personal injury attorney I would seek and get much more than $100,000 as a settlement for each dead person’s family. What happened at VA Tech indicates negligence, perhaps gross negligence. Isn’t it a good thing to adequately protect the students you admit and intend to prepare for life after college until they can graduate and leave?
The main reason they are offering the money is to get a release saying we won’t sue. I also live in VA and was surprised that this happened a year ago! How time flies. I believe there is a cap on suing a municipality (the state) of around 100k. Of course, they could get more if they sued the school. This was no doubt a tragedy, but I feel that suing for damages is not a good way to remember someone. That being said, I think the state and VA Tech are doing the right thing and showing some good will to those killed. It was a tragedy and there may have been some negligence involved, but I hate the mentality that someone has to pay. Also, please don’t blast me as someone who has no sympathy for the parents. I do, but money doesn’t make it any easier to cope.
If I were the family, I would be insulted by $100,000 due to the University’s gross neglience. Promising lives were cut short because the University did not do their due diligence. Each student would have earned at least $100,000 over three years upon graduation from school.
A lifetime payment? No. But $100,000 is too cheap.
I agree with you, Dustin. I know these people left families behind but I’ll be even colder in my statement…
If you left kids or a spouse, they should get restitution only. I’m not discriminating against single people but hey these are just my two cents. Also really this money could be better spent to upgrade security and better screen students and more money poured into the mental health / research field.
Look at the case of Heath Ledger’s estate. He left nothing to his kid and now the dad is not seen as fit to run the estate. Yes, he’s the father but this actor left a child behind who needs to be left everything. He was a grown man and you’re finished with the child-rearing. What do you stand to gain? Do you need the money back for all of the years you took care of that child? NO! That’s your job as a parent. What will $100K or $100MM do Look at cases where people are left permanently disabled. They need lifetime care – I can understand that. Believe me, not only will the attornies take their cut but also the parents, siblings, cousins, with their hands out. Money does that. Charity is better than going on a shopping spree.
Getting to speak with, and ask questions of, an ELECTED GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL comes with the deal? Are you kidding me? That should happen anyway and for free and any time I would want it!
Why not throw in a set of steak knives and maybe they will have to consider it….
Too bad the school and the State didn’t have total immunity from this incident. If it was like this everywhere then people would not be such large deep pocket money whores, pltf attys would have less influence and the Courts would not be so congested and corrupt.
It’s the same “somebody has to pay” mentality we see in other cases. The state is trying to keep litigation costs down by offering the settlement and I hope the people take it. No amount of money will help them with their grief so they shouldn’t ask for any.
I didn’t realize that it was the university that shot those students. From what I remember reading it was some fool that went on a killing spree and then killed himself.
Yes the university is responsible for providing a safe environment for learning, which I beleive they did to the extent that would be resonibly expected or allowed.
Problem here is that the guy who was responsible is dead and doesn’t have a penny to his name – so we find the deep pockets!
i don’t know enough of the details to fully assess the degree of negligence by the university, but gross negligence it was not. therefore the 100k is not their value of a life. it is the value they feel is fair for the amount of responsibility the university accepts for purpose of settling. i’m not saying the is a fair amount either. but you need to see this for what it is. unfortunately the guy was a nut case and was going to shoot people – that sucks i know, but that is the fact. let’s assume the university was able to send a warning some how and sooner. their still would have been kids on campus he would have gone after. i am not trivializing this at all. i do think this begs the question what can a university do to communicate with the campus to help minimize the damage.
the add on for discussions with gov’t officials – shouldn’t that be available to everyone?
if i were a parent of one of those kids i wouldn’t want the money for me. i would use it do something positive for safety on campus or something. what would i do with the money, buy a nice car or vacation spot and have it as a constant reminder of how it was paid?
There was a way to send a warning. The school didn’t want the shootings on the news. At 7:30AM a vast majority of the student body were still in their dorms, homes, or cars. IF the media had been able to broadcast the shooting, how many of those same students would NOT have gone to class that day? The Univ president ASSUMED it was an isolated incident and kept it ‘quiet’. THAT puts a large amount of respondsibility on the Univ. And, yes, CYA instead of informing constitutes as gross negligence to me.
Anyone who has ever been a victim of a crime on a campus knows that they want ‘campus security’ to handle it. No real police involvement unless absolutely necessary. And NO media coverage. Can’t make other kids not want to come there. The SECOND it was confirmed a shooting, the university had a respondsibility to advise the students and faculty that there was a gun on campus any way they could. That includes the TV news and radio.
And, sadly, I have to add that the ONLY way other schools are going to react differently in the future is if this Univ has to pay out a large sum. They don’t want the publicity, and they won’t go public until they are forced. Maybe with a huge payout the universities across the country will decide a little bad publicity beforehand is worse then millions of $$ in payouts after the fact.
And, since no one here understands why parents should be entitled to money, student loans that were co-signed by parents are STILL DUE AND PAYABLE. So if you’ve borrowed $50,000 to send your child to school, and they are killed, you still owe all of it back. Not just the un-used portion. Credit cards that parents co-signed for, cars that were purchased for the child can’t be sold, since they probably aren’t worth what’s owed, etc. There are bills left to the parents that are nothing more then a painful reminder and an extra burden when the child is killed. At least pay that off. Not to mention the average $20,000 cost of the funerals/burials. (I’d be willing to bet most of the parents had no life insurance- no parent wants to believe they might have to bury their children)
You’re right Old Man but in this day and age people want the blood (or money in this case) of other people regardless of true liability and/or negligence. They want to find the deepest pocket and extract as much cash as possible from them. We have a f’ed up society that has little care or concern for personal responsibility and accountability.
I mentioned to a friend that the school offered $100k settlement to each family, and she asked, “why?”
I thought it was a great question. We were and still are deeply saddened by the tragedy, however we find it difficult to see how getting attorneys involved to point the blame finger at the deepest pockets honors their memory.
I guess they say opinions are like you-know-what (everyone’s got one), but ours is that a $100,000 settlement sounded very generous. The overwhelming reaction to this tragedy was national support of the families and support of the school. Why sue?
I work in the insurance industry and usually side with defendants when BI and/or PD are alleged. I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I’ve spoken to many of the students who were there on the day of the shootings. In this instance in my opinion, the injured parties and the plaintiff’s attorneys should prevail because (1) several people charged with the admissions process and administrative process at VA Tech knew Mr. Cho had issues that would probably give rise to this kind of action (2) they took no action to prevent it (3) campus security and local police were very slow to take action to prevent many of the deaths and woundings after the initial shootings occurred. Were I a personal injury attorney I would seek and get much more than $100,000 as a settlement for each dead person’s family. What happened at VA Tech indicates negligence, perhaps gross negligence. Isn’t it a good thing to adequately protect the students you admit and intend to prepare for life after college until they can graduate and leave?
I thought that the Commonwealth of VA had a limiy of governmental immunity for tort claims – I had heard 100K
The main reason they are offering the money is to get a release saying we won’t sue. I also live in VA and was surprised that this happened a year ago! How time flies. I believe there is a cap on suing a municipality (the state) of around 100k. Of course, they could get more if they sued the school. This was no doubt a tragedy, but I feel that suing for damages is not a good way to remember someone. That being said, I think the state and VA Tech are doing the right thing and showing some good will to those killed. It was a tragedy and there may have been some negligence involved, but I hate the mentality that someone has to pay. Also, please don’t blast me as someone who has no sympathy for the parents. I do, but money doesn’t make it any easier to cope.
If I were the family, I would be insulted by $100,000 due to the University’s gross neglience. Promising lives were cut short because the University did not do their due diligence. Each student would have earned at least $100,000 over three years upon graduation from school.
A lifetime payment? No. But $100,000 is too cheap.
Placing a value on one’s life is nearly impossible.
Also, where do you get gross negligence? I see negligence.
I agree with you, Dustin. I know these people left families behind but I’ll be even colder in my statement…
If you left kids or a spouse, they should get restitution only. I’m not discriminating against single people but hey these are just my two cents. Also really this money could be better spent to upgrade security and better screen students and more money poured into the mental health / research field.
Look at the case of Heath Ledger’s estate. He left nothing to his kid and now the dad is not seen as fit to run the estate. Yes, he’s the father but this actor left a child behind who needs to be left everything. He was a grown man and you’re finished with the child-rearing. What do you stand to gain? Do you need the money back for all of the years you took care of that child? NO! That’s your job as a parent. What will $100K or $100MM do Look at cases where people are left permanently disabled. They need lifetime care – I can understand that. Believe me, not only will the attornies take their cut but also the parents, siblings, cousins, with their hands out. Money does that. Charity is better than going on a shopping spree.
Whenever anyone says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money. Old saying.
Getting to speak with, and ask questions of, an ELECTED GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL comes with the deal? Are you kidding me? That should happen anyway and for free and any time I would want it!
Why not throw in a set of steak knives and maybe they will have to consider it….
I am fairly sure they have been speaking to elected officials. This is to further solidify that this communication will continue.
Too bad the school and the State didn’t have total immunity from this incident. If it was like this everywhere then people would not be such large deep pocket money whores, pltf attys would have less influence and the Courts would not be so congested and corrupt.
It’s the same “somebody has to pay” mentality we see in other cases. The state is trying to keep litigation costs down by offering the settlement and I hope the people take it. No amount of money will help them with their grief so they shouldn’t ask for any.
I think I missed something somewhere.
I didn’t realize that it was the university that shot those students. From what I remember reading it was some fool that went on a killing spree and then killed himself.
Yes the university is responsible for providing a safe environment for learning, which I beleive they did to the extent that would be resonibly expected or allowed.
Problem here is that the guy who was responsible is dead and doesn’t have a penny to his name – so we find the deep pockets!
They are called attorneys NOT attornies!
i don’t know enough of the details to fully assess the degree of negligence by the university, but gross negligence it was not. therefore the 100k is not their value of a life. it is the value they feel is fair for the amount of responsibility the university accepts for purpose of settling. i’m not saying the is a fair amount either. but you need to see this for what it is. unfortunately the guy was a nut case and was going to shoot people – that sucks i know, but that is the fact. let’s assume the university was able to send a warning some how and sooner. their still would have been kids on campus he would have gone after. i am not trivializing this at all. i do think this begs the question what can a university do to communicate with the campus to help minimize the damage.
the add on for discussions with gov’t officials – shouldn’t that be available to everyone?
if i were a parent of one of those kids i wouldn’t want the money for me. i would use it do something positive for safety on campus or something. what would i do with the money, buy a nice car or vacation spot and have it as a constant reminder of how it was paid?
There was a way to send a warning. The school didn’t want the shootings on the news. At 7:30AM a vast majority of the student body were still in their dorms, homes, or cars. IF the media had been able to broadcast the shooting, how many of those same students would NOT have gone to class that day? The Univ president ASSUMED it was an isolated incident and kept it ‘quiet’. THAT puts a large amount of respondsibility on the Univ. And, yes, CYA instead of informing constitutes as gross negligence to me.
Anyone who has ever been a victim of a crime on a campus knows that they want ‘campus security’ to handle it. No real police involvement unless absolutely necessary. And NO media coverage. Can’t make other kids not want to come there. The SECOND it was confirmed a shooting, the university had a respondsibility to advise the students and faculty that there was a gun on campus any way they could. That includes the TV news and radio.
And, sadly, I have to add that the ONLY way other schools are going to react differently in the future is if this Univ has to pay out a large sum. They don’t want the publicity, and they won’t go public until they are forced. Maybe with a huge payout the universities across the country will decide a little bad publicity beforehand is worse then millions of $$ in payouts after the fact.
And, since no one here understands why parents should be entitled to money, student loans that were co-signed by parents are STILL DUE AND PAYABLE. So if you’ve borrowed $50,000 to send your child to school, and they are killed, you still owe all of it back. Not just the un-used portion. Credit cards that parents co-signed for, cars that were purchased for the child can’t be sold, since they probably aren’t worth what’s owed, etc. There are bills left to the parents that are nothing more then a painful reminder and an extra burden when the child is killed. At least pay that off. Not to mention the average $20,000 cost of the funerals/burials. (I’d be willing to bet most of the parents had no life insurance- no parent wants to believe they might have to bury their children)
You’re right Old Man but in this day and age people want the blood (or money in this case) of other people regardless of true liability and/or negligence. They want to find the deepest pocket and extract as much cash as possible from them. We have a f’ed up society that has little care or concern for personal responsibility and accountability.