A Marathon County judge has approved a partial settlement in a lawsuit filed by the family of a Rib Mountain teen killed by a school bus.
The settlement gives Brandon Pippenger's younger brother $50,000 for emotional damages, suffered after he witnessed his older brother being run over by a school bus in 2005. Family attorney Christine Bremer Muggli says the settlement was reached with First Student Inc., which now owns the bus company.
Under the settlement, Bremer Muggli says more than $33,000 will go into a savings account that the boy can't draw on until he's 18.
Bremer Muggli also says they're close to settling the lawsuit involving Brandon's death. She says an agreement has been reached on the terms, but still needs to be finalized.
The Pippengers says the bus driver was negligent and would have seen Brandon running to catch the bus had he checked his mirrors. Brandon was a seventh grader at a Wausau elementary school when he was killed.