DANTE A. BATTILLA AND GAIL A. BATTILLA, HIS WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
ALLIS CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY AND TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEES
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PER CURIAM.
This cause is before the Court on appeal from a judgment of the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, in and for Broward County. The judgment passed upon the validity of a state law. The notice of appeal was filed January 12, 1979. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. (1972).
The circuit court held that this product liability action was barred by the statute of limitations, section 95.031, Florida Statutes (1975). We reverse on the authority of Overland Construction Co. v. Sirmons, 369 So. 2d 572 (Fla.1979), and hold that, as applied to this case, section 95.031 denies access to courts under article I,, section 21, Florida Constitution. See also Purk v. Federal Press Co., 387 So. 2d 354 (Fla.1980); Bauld v. J. A. Jones Construction Co., 357 So. 2d 401 (Fla.1978).
It is so ordered.
SUNDBERG, C. J., and ADKINS, BOYD and ENGLAND, JJ., concur. McDONALD, J., dissents with an opinion, with which OVERTON and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur.
McDONALD, Justice,
dissenting.
I disagree that there is anything unconstitutional about section 95.031(2). Although I recognize that the language in Overland1 is such that it could be authority to extend its application to this section, I would limit that holding to section 95.-ll(3)(c). I do this not for any reason expressed or exceptions made in Overland but because a twelve-year limitation may be reasonable for liability for manufactured products and not for liability for improvements to real property.
Until the decision of Matthews v. Lawnlite Co., 88 So. 2d 299 (Fla.1956), Florida recognized the early common law rule which inhibited recovery where there was no privity of contract. Since then the law of products liability has evolved to the point that we now recognize liability of a manufacturer which sells a product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer.2 This developing liability of a manufacturer creates a policy dispute. It could be logically argued that once a product is manufactured and sold a manufacturer should be subject to liability for an injury whenever caused by that product. It could also be argued that such liability would place an onerous burden on industry and that, therefore, liability should be restricted to a time commensurate with the normal useful life of manufactured products.
The legislature, in enacting section 95.-031(2), has determined that perpetual liability places an undue burden on manufacturers. It has determined that twelve years from the date of sale is a reasonable time for exposure to liability for manufacturers of products. I perceive a rational and legitimate basis for the legislature to take this action, particularly in view of the relatively recent developments in expanding the liability of manufacturers. Because the normal useful life of buildings is obviously greater than most manufactured products there is a distinction in the categories of liability exposure between those sought to be limited by section 95.11(3)(c), struck down in Overland, and those listed in section 95.031(2).
I would sustain the trial judge’s actions in upholding section 95.031(2), Florida Statutes, which statute restricts actions against a manufacturer to twelve years from the date of the sale of the product.
OVERTON and ALDERMAN, JJ., concur. . Overland Construction Co., Inc. v. Sirmons, 369 So. 2d 572 (Fla.1979).
. West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., Inc., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla.1976).
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Cited By (64 total)
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Pullum v. Cincinnati, Inc., 476 So. 2d 657 (Fla. 1985)…teed by article I, section 21 of the Florida Constitution. Pullum asks this Court to quash the decision of the First District and to hold that section 95.031(2), as “amended” by this Court’s decision in Battilla v. Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Co., 392 So. 2d 874 (Fla.1980), violates his right to equal protection of the laws. In view of this decision, holding that where section 95.031(2) barred a right of action before it ever existed, it was unconstitutional as applied because it denied access to the courts…
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Arthur W. Kush, M.D. v. Lloyd, 616 So. 2d 415 (Fla. 1992)…mandate of access to courts, even when applied to a cause of action which did not accrue until after the period had expired. See also Pullum v. Cincinnati, Inc., 476 So. 2d 657 (Fla.1985) (receding from Battilla v. Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Co., 392 So. 2d 874 (Fla.1980), and holding the twelve-year statute of repose in products liability actions constitutional even as applied to causes of action which did not accrue until after the period expired), appeal dismissed, 475 U.S. 1114, 106 S.Ct. 1626, 90 L.Ed…
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Melendez v. Dreis & Krump Mfg. Co., 515 So. 2d 735 (Fla. 1987)…effective date of the amendment? II. If not, should the decision of Pul-lum v. Cincinnati, Inc., 476 So. 2d 657 (Fla.1985), appeal dismissed, 475 U.S. 1114, 106 S.Ct. 1626, 90 L.Ed.2d 174 (1986), which overruled Battilla v. Allis Chalmers Mfg. Co., 392 So. 2d 874 (Fla.1980), apply so as to bar a cause of action that accrued after the Battilla decision but before the Pullum decision? 503 So. 2d at 365-66. We answer the first question in the negative and answer the second question in the affirmative. On May…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., Inc., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 1976)
- Williams v. Surf Props., Inc., 88 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 1956)
- Bauld v. J. A. Jones Constr. Co., 357 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 1978)
- Overland Constr. Co., Inc. v. Sirmons, 369 So. 2d 572 (Fla. 1979)
- Purk v. Fed. Press Co. & Fla. Mach. Corp., 387 So. 2d 354 (Fla. 1980)