ALBERTO CLAUSELL AND PATRICIA CLAUSELL, APPELLANTS,
v.
HOBART CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1987-05-12
No. 86-924
Before DANIEL S. PEARSON and FERGUSON and JORGENSON, JJ.
506 So. 2d 1160 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1987) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases
Topics
Product Liability Action Statute Of Repose Stare Decisis Products Liability

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Affirmed on the authority of Shaw v. General Motors Corp., 503 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). We certify the following questions to the Florida Supreme Court as questions of great public importance. As in Shaw:

I. WHETHER THE LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT OF SECTION 95.-031(2), FLORIDA STATUTES (1983), ABOLISHING THE STATUTE OF REPOSE IN PRODUCT LIABILITY ACTIONS, SHOULD BE CONSTRUED TO OPERATE RETROSPECTIVELY AS TO A CAUSE OF ACTION WHICH ACCRUED BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE AMENDMENT.

II. IF NOT, WHETHER THE DECISION OF PULLUM V. CINCINNATI, INC., 476 SO.2D 657 (FLA. 1985), APPEAL DISMISSED, — U.S. —, 106 S.CT. 1626, 90 L.ED.2D 174 (1986), WHICH OVERRULED BATTILLA V. ALLIS CHALMERS MFG. CO., 392 SO.2D 874 (FLA.1980), APPLIES SO AS TO BAR A CAUSE OF ACTION THAT ACCRUED AFTER THE BATTILLA DECISION BUT BEFORE THE PULLUM DECISION.

And, additionally:

III. WOULD THE APPLICATION OF PULLUM, TO BAR A CAUSE OF ACTION THAT ACCRUED AFTER THE BATTILLA DECISION BUT BEFORE THE PULLUM DECISION, DEPRIVE THE PLAINTIFF OF A RIGHT OF DUE PROCESS GUARANTEED BY THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION?

Affirmed.

Concurrence
FERGUSON, Judge

FERGUSON, Judge

(specially concurring).

Affirmance is required by Shaw; however, in my view, as was stated in a concurring opinion in Dominguez v. Bucyrus-Erie Co., 503 So. 2d 364 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), our first duty in construing a statute is to reconcile it with constitutional mandates. See Biggs v. Smith, 134 Fla. 569, 184 So. 106 (1938). That duty requires us to give the statute retroactive application so as to open the court for redress in accordance with article I, section 21, of the Florida Constitution. The purpose of the constitutional provision is to give vitality to the maxim that for every wrong there is a remedy. Holland ex rel. Williams v. Mayes, 155 Fla. 129, 19 So. 2d 709 (1944). Any claim of the parties to “vested rights” in pre-statute law is subordinate.

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Citator

Cited By

  • Clausell v. Hobart Corp., 515 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 1987)
    …GRIMES, Justice. We review Clausell v. Hobart Corp., 506 So. 2d 1160 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987), to answer three certified questions of great public importance. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla.Const. The certified questions are as follows: I. WHETHER THE LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT OF SECTION 95.-031(2), FLORIDA STATUTES (1983), ABOLISHIN…
  • Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. Diaz, 507 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
    …gislative amendment does not operate retroactively so as to revive causes of action which had by then been extinguished by the statute of repose. See Shaw v. General Motors Corp., 503 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). See also Clausell v. Hobart Corp., 506 So. 2d 1160, (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Wallis v. Grumman Corp., 503 So. 2d 366 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Lane v. Koehring Co., 503 So. 2d 364 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Bracken-ridge v. Ametek, Inc., 503 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). Second, the provision of Rule 1.540(b)(5) und…
  • Nat'l Ins. Underwriters v. Cessna Aircraft Corp., 522 So. 2d 53 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988)
    …son v. Caterpiller Tractor Co., 507 So. 2d 1222 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Curtiss-Wright Corporation v. Diaz, 507 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Walls v. Cahill Manufacturing Co., Inc., 507 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Clausell v. Hobart Corporation, 506 So. 2d 1160 (Fla. 3d DCA), approved, 515 So. 2d 1275 (Fla.1987); Manuel v. EIG Cutlery, Inc., 506 So. 2d 1100 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Keyes v. Fulton Manufacturing Corp., 506 So. 2d 1099 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Desvergundt v. Koppers Company, Inc., 506 So. 2d 60 (Fla.…

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