Man who crashed vehicle into SIIS office loses appeal

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 12:36 p.m.

The court ruled Thursday against Jim Forrester, who drove his car into the SIIS office in Las Vegas in July 1993 and started firing a gun, causing more than $150,000 in damages and endangering bystanders.

Forrester, 62, wounded when a security guard shot him in the head, got a seven-year prison term for assault, discharging a firearm and theft. He's scheduled for a parole in May.

The Supreme Court refused to revive a lawsuit that Forrester had filed before the car crash, accusing SIIS of negligence and breach of contract in processing his claim based on an on-the-job back injury.

His case was combined with two other lawsuits filed by Louis Madera and Angelo DiMario, also injured workers, because they dealt with the same issue.

The lawsuits were filed before approval of a 1995 law that limited legal action against SIIS to administrative fines.

The Supreme Court ruling bars lawsuits filed before the 1995 law which have yet to be decided by the court. The court said it was the clear intent of the Legislature to make the law retroactive to pending suits.

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