Jury awards Simon family $591,000 in wrongful death case
A Dunn County jury last week awarded $591,000 to the family of Bradley L. Simon, ending a wrongful death civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Bradley, a 22-year-old former UW-Stout student.
Bradley Simon, the son of Philip Simon, president of Michael F. Simon Builders in Madison, died following an indicent outside a Menomonie bar in October 2010.
Two men, Jared C. Britton, 25, of Maplewood, Minn., and Jedidiah R. McGlasson, 23, of Winona, Minn., were charged in the incident. Britton later was aquitted and McGlasson was sentenced to jail, probation, and community service as part of a plea bargain, prompting the Simons to file a civil suit.
The Simons have expressed disappointment with prosecutors and police for not presenting a stronger against the two men for their alleged role in an incident that involved excessive drinking. The family believes the accused are responsible for pushing Bradley Simon, who was riding a bicycle to avoid a confrontation with a group of men outside the bar, into a concrete barrier. Bradley never regained consciousness and died five days later.
The defendants now have a 20-day waiting period to challenge the results of the civil trial.
In response to the judgement, Phil Simon released the following statement:
Unfortunately, a civil trial was our last resort in getting justice for the two men that were responsible for Brad's death. We are very disappointed with the way the Menomonie Police Department and Dunn County DA in how they handled the investigation and trial in the criminal case. There is no reason these men should not be serving time in prison.
Our attorney, looking at the same video surveillance tapes the police did, found new evidence. In the criminal case, Britton stated Brad started the confrontation by unzipping Britons hoodie in the bar. The video tape shows Britton unzipping his own hoodie, not Brad. Our attorney played that video and asked Britton if that is him unzipping his own hoodie and he said yes it was. Had the police seen this and presented this in the first trial, things would have turned out different. But they never looked at the complete video surveillance tapes. Thank God our attorney did!
The legal process took over two years, but that chapter in our lives is now over. Now, we as a family need to start to heal. We have continued to receive tremendous support and acts of kindness from friends, family, and our community as a whole. We are truly blessed and no words can express our love and most sincere thank you!
During the civil trial, the Simon family was represented by attorney Daniel Rottier.
