JAMES R. SHOEMAKER, D.O., ET AL., APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
SONIA SLIGER, ETC., ET AL., APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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The Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed its previous decision and held that the statutory cap on wrongful death non-economic damages under Florida Statutes section 766.118 is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution, following the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Estate of McCall v. United States. The court remanded for entry of judgment without the statutory reduction.
The statutory cap on wrongful death non-economic damages in section 766.118 is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution. The trial court's reduction of the damages award to the statutory cap must be reversed, and the case must be remanded for entry of judgment in accordance with the full jury verdict without any reduction under section 766.118.
[1] A statutory cap on wrongful death non-economic damages is unconstitutional as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution.
[2] A court may recall its mandate to reconsider a prior decision in light of a subsequent controlling precedent from a higher court.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the statutory cap on wrongful death non-economic damages provided in section 766.118 is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution”
Establishes the holding from Estate of McCall that forms the basis for reversing the trial court's reduction of damages
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThis case involved a wrongful death claim where a jury awarded non-economic damages. The trial court reduced the award to comply with the statutory ca…
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This court previously rendered a per curiam opinion affirming as to all issues presented in this appeal.' Two of the issues raised in the cross-appeal filed by Sonia Sliger, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Stephen Sliger, were whether the statutory cap on wrongful death non-economic damages found in section 766.118, Florida Statutes (2007), is unconstitutional and whether the trial court erred in reducing the award of damages to the statutory cap required by that statute. When this court rendered its per curiam opinion, the Florida Supreme Court had not yet rendered its decision in Estate of McCall v. United States, 134 So.3d 894 (Fla.2014), wherein the court held that the statutory cap on wrongful death non-economic damages provided in section 766.118 is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution.1 After McCall was rendered, Sliger filed a motion to recall the mandate previously issued by this court. This court granted that motion so we could reconsider this particular issue in light of the decision in McCall.
Pursuant to McCall, we withdraw our previous opinion and substitute this opinion in its place, and we reverse that part of the judgment under review that reduces the award of -wrongful death non-economic damages to Sliger pursuant to section 766.118. We remand this case to the trial court to enter an amended judgment in accordance with the jury verdict without any reduction under section 766.118. We affirm as to all other issues raised by the parties.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; REMANDED.
TORPY, C.J., SAWAYA and COHEN, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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N. Broward Hosp. Dist. v. Kalitan, 174 So. 3d 403 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)…Supreme Court in McCall did not limit its holding to prospective application. Moreover, the Fifth District Court of Appeal recently withdrew its opinion in a wrongful death case for the purpose of applying McCall retroactively. Shoemaker v. Sliger, 141 So. 3d 1225 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014). Finally, Florida’s “pipeline rule” requires that “disposition of a case on appeal should be made in accord with the law in effect at the time of the appellate court’s decision rather than the law in effect at the time -the judgm…
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James R. Shoemaker, D.O. v. Sliger, 187 So. 3d 863 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016)…ing the McCall decision, this Court withdrew its prior opinion and “reverse[d] that part of the judgment under review that reduced the award of wrongful death non-economic damages to Sliger pursuant, to section 766.118.” Shoe [*865] maker v. Sliger, 141 So. 3d 1225, 1225 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014). The Court then “remand[ed]' the case to the trial court to enter an amended judgment in accordance with the jury verdict without any reduction under section 766.118” and affirmed “as to all other issues raised by the parti…
Authorities Cited
- Est. OF Michelle Evette McCALL v. United States, 134 So. 3d 894 (Fla. 2014)