PRACTICE AREAS
Florida Statute of Limitations for Product Liability
ABOUT THIS CASE
In Florida, product liability lawsuits brought under the theories of strict liability or negligence must be filed within four years after the cause of action occurred.
Fla. Stat. § 95.11 . Generally, “cause of action” does not occur until the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered that they were injured by the defendant’s conduct. If you do not file your case within this time, you cannot sue.
If the lawsuit is based on contract law, as in the case of a breach of warranty, you must file it within four years after the cause of action occurred. Similar to strict liability and negligence cases, a “cause of action” here does not occur until the plaintiff discovers, or should have discovered, that there was a breach of contract. If you do not file a lawsuit within this time, you cannot sue.
In addition to typical statutes of limitations, state legislatures have also enacted special statutes of limitations for certain types of actions to put outside time limits on certain types of lawsuits. These are referred to as statutes of repose.
Statutes of repose typically place an outside limit (usually 10, 15 or 20 years) on certain types of lawsuits, regardless of when the injury is discovered. In Florida, injured victims cannot file a product liability suit within 12 years after delivery of the product to its first purchaser. Fla. Stat. § 95.031.
COMMON PRODUCT LIABILITY DEFENSES
Product Misuse
A person injured by an allegedly defective product may not be able to recover damages if it is shown that he or she misused the product, or used it in a manner other than that which is expected. Products are generally designed to be used a certain way and serve a specific function. A manufacturer of a product is not liable if an individual is injured while using a product in a way other than the way it is supposed to be used. The key question is whether the misuse was foreseeable to the manufacturer, since manufacturers of products are required to recognize that some type of misuse by users of their products is expected, and thus the products are required to be designed to avoid foreseeable misuse. The defense of misuse is essentially a defense based on causation (and comparative negligence in non-strict liability negligence cases).
Example
A toaster oven is used to heat food, not warm mittens. If you use a toaster to warm mittens, and it subsequently causes a fire or causes serious burns to your hands, you cannot sue the manufacturer for a defective product because you didn’t use the toaster the way it was meant to be used, or in a manner which would be foreseeable to the manufacturer.
Product Alteration
If you substantially alter a product after you purchase it and the product then causes you physical injury, you generally cannot sue the manufacturer alleging that the product was defective.
Example
If you purchase a power saw that has a safety guard covering the blade to prevent injury to your fingers, and you remove the guard because you feel it makes the saw more difficult to use, if you continue to use the saw and cut one of your fingers off, the manufacturer would not be liable.
Control of Defendant
In order to recover for injuries caused by a product, it must be shown that the product was defective at the time it left the control of the party against whom a claim is made. As such, in the case of a manufacturer, the product must have been defective at the time it was sold and delivered to a wholesaler. In the case of a wholesaler, that time would be when the product is sold and delivered to a retailer. With a retailer, that time would be when the product is sold and delivered to a consumer.
In most design defect cases, the product is alleged to be defective at all times, since the theory is that a fundamental design flaw renders the product unreasonably dangerous- regardless of who’s hands it is in. Needless to say, if the condition of a product changes so as to render the product unreasonably dangerous after the product has left the control of a particular party in the chain of commerce, that party cannot be held liable for damages caused by the product, unless the change was reasonably foreseeable within the scope of the intended use of the product.
In product liability cases it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, document the chain of custody of the product in question, and to enable engineers or other expert witnesses to thoroughly evaluate the product and your injuries. If you or a loved one has been injured by a product of any kind, call Brotman Nusbaum Ibrahim & Adelman now at (888) 661-6266 or CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A SIMPLE CASE FORM. Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.
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A person slips, falls and is injured on someone else’s property
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When the care provided by a doctor or other health care provider falls below the appropriate level of skill and knowledge reasonably exercised by others under like circumstances