Jesse Scheckner
The family of a Miami Beach recreation leader is one step closer to receiving the balance of a wrongful death settlement it reached with the city last year.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-1 for SB 14, which would clear $1.7 million to the loved ones of Peniel “P.J.” Janvier, who drowned in a city pool on Aug. 16, 2022.
Janvier, a 28-year-old Army Reserve member, was a recreation leader and football coach for Miami Beach’s Parks and Recreation Department. He was off the clock on the day he died while visiting kids whom he oversaw during Summer camp at the Scott Rakow Youth Center’s outdoor pool.
Douglas McCarron, an attorney for the family, cited video footage showing Janvier being pushed by a camper into the pool’s deep end and struggling for 12 minutes as kids tried to save him. A lifeguard on duty was focused on his phone.
The city later suspended two employees and fired a third. In May 2024, the Miami Beach Commission approved a $2 million settlement with Janvier’s family.
But only $300,000 has been given. That’s due to Florida’s sovereign immunity law, which protects government agencies from costly lawsuits by capping payouts at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident.
For payments beyond those sums, state lawmakers must pass a claims bill, a special classification of legislation intended to compensate a person or entity for injury or loss due to the negligence or error of a public officer or agency.
Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones filed SB 14 in August, less than three months after Miami Beach OK’d the settlement. Miami Republican Rep. Juan Porras filed the bill’s House twin (HB 6519) last month.
Palm Harbor Republican Sen. Ed Hooper cast the sole “no” vote Wednesday, but provided no explanation why. He voted for other claims bills during the same meeting, saying of one measure to fulfill a settlement over a 19-year-old accident, “Nineteen years? Maybe we ought to come up with a better process.”
Republican Sen. Corey Simon of Tallahassee and Republican Rep. Fiona McFarland of Sarasota are carrying bills to overhaul Florida’s claims bill statutes, including raising payout caps and allowing localities to forgo sovereign immunity protections.
SB 14 will next go to the Senate Community Affairs Committee, after which it has one more stop before reaching a floor vote. HB 6519 also has two more stops before it would be up for a full vote by the House.
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