Margene W. Hill, et al. v. Department of Agriculture

The Ohio Department of Agriculture will pay a Bethel, Ohio woman $225,000 for a rear-end crash caused by one of its employees. The Court of Claims of Ohio approved the settlement on Friday.

According to the September 13, 2013 complaint, agriculture employee Kyle S. Hoppes struck Margene W. Hill’s vehicle from behind on October 4, 2011 in Clermont County “within the course and scope of his employment and in furtherance of his official responsibilities.”

The “violent” crash left Hill with injuries “to her eyes, shoulder, neck, back and body as a whole, all of which are permanent and lasting in nature and have resulted in permanent pain and suffering, disability, mental anguish, and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life.” Hill also has incurred medical expenses and expects to incur more.

The complaint notes that the Hoppes negligently “failed to keep a proper lookout, failed to properly apply his brakes, failed to keep an assured clear distance and failed to reasonably manage his vehicle so as to avoid injury to others on the roadway.”

The Court of Claims is given original jurisdiction to hear and determine all civil actions filed against the State of Ohio and its agencies.

To access information on other cases visit the Court of Claims website.

Please note: Opinion summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information for the general public and news media. Opinion summaries are not prepared for every opinion, but only for noteworthy cases. Opinion summaries are not to be considered as official headnotes or syllabi of court opinions. The full text of this and other court opinions are available online.