Visiting Qadira

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 On April 18th, 2007, State Farm insurance agent Beth Phipps visited the Stephens family. The following narrative provides a detailed account of this encounter, drawn directly from Karellen's perspective as chronicled in her book, Justice For Qadira. This excerpt offers insight into the complexities and interactions involved during this crucial period in Qadira's recovery process.

"Todd and Aimee had State Farm insurance and an agent called asking to come see about Qadira.  Her name was Beth Phipps and she arrived at our door about two [one] weeks after Qadira had been burned.  

SLAP, KICK, PUNCH!  At this point I always felt kind of sick about everything.  She insisted in a very official way on taking pictures of Qadira’s wound which made me feel very very uncomfortable. 

I mean Qadira wasn’t a car she was a child.  It didn’t feel right unwrapping Qadira’s leg and allowing this woman to take pictures of her injury but she acted like she knew what she was doing.  I mean once again I was just a high school graduate with 4 kids and this woman appeared to be someone in a position of authority." (Pg. 43)

"I watched her snap pictures of my daughters burned up leg.  Her hands seemed a little shaky and she looked visibly ill for a moment after I unwrapped the wound which was looking a hell of a lot better than it had two weeks ago.  

She explained that the insurance company would probably offer some money but that they needed to see the extent of the damage to come to a decision.  She also said that we would have to put the money in some kind of special account since Qadira was a child." (Pg. 44)

Karellen's recounting of the events slightly misdates the incident; it was only about a week after Todd and Aimee's involvement in Qadira's injury. Shortly after Beth Phipps's visit, a mandatory reporter from Portland Public Schools came to see Qadira, bringing "Get Well" cards from her classmates. This gesture becomes more troubling upon discovering that Sophie, the daughter of Todd and Aimee, had disclosed the details of Qadira's injury to her entire class.

"Qadira’s teacher came by and paid her a visit acting like everything was totally normal.  And soon after Todd called wanting to bring Sophie by with some get well cards from the kids at school.  When they arrived we wondered where Aimee was and Sophie blurted out that her mom was grounded.  

What did Sophie mean?  Why was Aimee grounded?  Todd just talked and talked about everything.  It was a weird visit.  I felt uncomfortable around Todd.  Why was he here?  

Where was Aimee?  I didn’t want these people in my house.  It was the last time we really ever talked to them.  Todd gave Qadira a card that read “We are so sorry you got hurt.” (Pg. 43)

Despite the involvement of mandatory reporters, no actions were taken regarding Qadira's injury. It appeared that everyone, except Karellen and Renee, considered the circumstances surrounding Qadira's injury to be acceptable.

"After Beth left I called Renee and told him what had happened.  Something had felt wrong about the encounter and I thought maybe we should get an attorney.  

All the things Beth told me had been confusing and we weren’t going to be wheeling and dealing with the insurance company over this.  What did we know?  It seemed to make sense to call someone who knew about these kinds of things.  

How could we possibly measure the impact that this experience would have on Qadira?  How could we determine what a fair outcome would be?  We were still busy dealing with the initial wound and knew nothing about any of that." (Pg. 44)

"Renee called up Stephen P. Riedlinger of Susak & Powell.  Steve had done a good job as Renee’s attorney when he was in a car accident some years ago and Renee trusted him.  

Steve took the case on contingency right away which was nice.  It was a relief because we didn’t have the time or energy to deal with the insurance company and Qadira’s injury at the same time." (Pg. 44)

However, Karellen and Renee did not continue working with Stephen P. Riedlinger. Instead, Karellen and Renee were approached by Scott F. Kocher, a personal injury lawyer based in Portland who continues to practice there today.