Bill settlement ends decade-long Schaumburg lawsuit saga

Schaumburg officials have received a $237,500 settlement from two insurance companies for payment of legal fees in a wrongful-death lawsuit the village became entangled in a decade ago.

Though a judge ultimately dismissed the village from the suit, agreeing with its contention that it had no liability in the matter, it was only after several years and a total legal bill of about $580,000.

But Schaumburg's insurance companies - Twin City Fire Insurance and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance - stopped paying the legal bills after a combined total of $222,000. They claimed the suit involved a department of the village they didn't cover. Schaumburg subsequently sued its insurers to collect the rest of the bill.

The history of the case begins with the April 1999 death of 17-year-old Schaumburg resident Tiffany Slee, who was struck by a car on Golf Road in Hoffman Estates.

A lawsuit filed by her parents and their attorney theorized that Slee's death was a suicide and that the village was liable because a Schaumburg social worker had counseled her some months earlier.

The village's attorney, Iain Johnston, said no law enforcement agency ever ruled Slee's death a suicide.

According to initial reports, she had been wearing dark clothing at the time of the nighttime collision. Crossing against the light, Slee had left the non-speeding driver no time to avoid hitting her, Hoffman Estates police said.

Johnston said Schaumburg was brought into the lawsuit on the basis that the village counselor who'd seen her had failed to prevent her actions. The insurance companies stopped paying the village's legal bills after arguing that their coverage applied only to emergency responders and not to the Family Counseling Center, he added.

Representatives from the insurance companies did not return phone calls Wednesday.

Schaumburg Village Manager Ken Fritz said the settlement leaves the village with the responsibility for only $120,000 of the legal fees, and the village would have had to pay $100,000, which is its deductible, anyway.

"It was a very good outcome from the village's perspective because we could have ended up eating the whole amount," Fritz said. "It's not often that you win against an insurance company."