Candidate Sues Construction Company For Leaving Mold In Hospital

Sometimes a man’s got to file a “far fetched” lawsuit to get justice.

Limit ‘far-fetched’ lawsuits? Crist running mate has one of his own, critics say

[Jeff] Kottkamp, a trial lawyer and now the running mate of Republican governor candidate Charlie Crist, is embroiled in a lawsuit against two companies whose negligence he contends almost killed him.

Kottkamp was close to death two years ago, after a devastating mold infection developed in his chest following heart-bypass surgery.

But Kottkamp isn’t suing the doctors or hospital, whose financial liability would be limited. Instead, he is targeting a multibillion-dollar building firm, contending its shoddy work allowed the mold into the hospital. In a strange political twist, Kottkamp is using legal tactics that Florida’s Republican-ruled Legislature has struggled to stamp out.

“This looks like the type of far-fetched lawsuit Republicans in Florida have been trying to stop the past eight years,” said Victor Schwartz, general counsel for the American Tort Reform Association, which has guided civil justice changes in Florida.

After reading this news story I am wondering just how far fetched it is to believe that a construction company should not allow mold into a hospital. If Jeff were running for governor, he may have had my vote. Unfortunately, he is not on the top of the ticket.