Judes Tosses Parts of Family’s 911 Lawsuit

A Dane County (Wisc.) circuit judge has dismissed three elements of a lawsuit filed against the county and its 911 employees by the family of Brittany Zimmermann, but the key claim of negligence in handling a 911 remain. Zimmerman was murdered inside her apartment in April 2008, and someone from the apartment made a 911 call. However, since the call was interrupted, calltaker Rita Gahagan didn’t enter an incident into CAD to have officers investigate. On Tuesday Judge Maryann Sumi took action to dismiss the family’s claims against county for not properly funding the comm center. Sumi said the county was protected from liability by state law which provides immunity to government officials for “discretionary” decisions. Sumi also dismissed actions against county administrator Kathleen Falk and Gahagan as individuals, since the lawsuit claims no acts outside their scope of employment. Lastly, Sumi ruled that Zimmermann’s boyfriend Jordan Gonnering cannot be included on the lawsuit for emotional distress, saying state law doesn’t allow such claims by non-family members. The key element of the lawsuit, mishandling of the 911 call, remains. No suspect has been arrested in the case. Gahagan requested a transfer before the incident, and now works for another county agency.