Florida tort reform
All cases in Florida brought for negligence were affected by legislative changes in 1999.
Previously, an employer could be held liable for punitive damages if there was some fault on the part of the employer independent of the employee’s tortious conduct. Under an amendment to Florida Statute 768.72, an employer is only liable if it “actively and knowingly participated” in the conduct or “knowingly condoned, ratified, or consented” to the conduct or that the employer was itself guilty of gross negligence.
These same statutory changes insulated an employer for liability in certain cases of negligent hiring when an employee was guilty of an intentional tort. Florida Statute 768.096 gives the employer a presumption of lack of liability for negligent hiring if the employee conducts certain background investigations.
After the legislative change, caps were placed on punitive damages in all but a few cases. Generally punitive damages are now capped at the greater of three times the actual damage or $500,000 unless the conduct is found to be “motivated solely by unreasonable financial gain” in which case the damage cap is increased to the greater of four times the actual damage or $2 million. Florida Statute 768.735 eliminates some of the stricter standards of proof in cases of child abuse, elderly abuse and substance/alcohol-related cases.
An important change was also made to liability of a manufacturer of a product. There is now a “statute of repose,” which is a limitation of time during which the cause of action can arise. Prior to this change, manufacturers had almost unlimited exposure when they produced a defective product. Under the new law, Florida Statute 95.031 requires that any action against the manufacturer be commenced within 12 years of what is called its expected useful life. Under that statute, most products are conclusively presumed to have an expected useful life of 10 years or less. If the manufacturer had actual knowledge of the product’s defect and took affirmative steps to conceal the defect, then the statute of limitations is postponed.
Lawyers who handle these kinds of cases do so on a contingent fee basis meaning they take a percentage of recovery rather than charge an hourly fee.
Theodore Babbitt is senior partner in the law firm of Babbitt & Johnson, P.A., and is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, which is limited to the top 100 personal injury lawyers in the United States.