Bill Text: FL S1260 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Asbestos and Silica Claims

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2023-05-05 - Died in Commerce and Tourism [S1260 Detail]

Download: Florida-2023-S1260-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2023                                    SB 1260
       
       
        
       By Senator Trumbull
       
       
       
       
       
       2-00680A-23                                           20231260__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to asbestos and silica claims;
    3         amending s. 774.205, F.S.; requiring a claimant to
    4         file a sworn information form containing certain
    5         information within a certain time period after filing
    6         an asbestos or silica claim; authorizing a court to
    7         dismiss certain claims upon a motion by a defendant;
    8         amending s. 774.209, F.S.; providing that certain
    9         defendants are not liable for certain asbestos or
   10         silica exposures; providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 774.205, Florida
   15  Statutes, is amended, and subsections (4) and (5) are added to
   16  that section, to read:
   17         774.205 Claimant proceedings.—
   18         (3) Within 30 days after filing an asbestos or a silica
   19  claim in this state, the claimant must All asbestos claims and
   20  silica claims filed in this state on or after the effective date
   21  of this act must include, in addition to the written report
   22  described in subsection (2) and the information required by s.
   23  774.207(2), file a sworn information form specifying the
   24  evidence that provides the basis for each claim against each
   25  defendant and containing all of the following information:
   26         (a) The claimant’s name, address, date of birth, and
   27  marital status, occupation, smoking history, current and past
   28  worksites, and current and past employers of the exposed person
   29  and any person through whom the exposed person alleges exposure
   30  to asbestos or silica.;
   31         (b) The name, address, and relationship to the exposed
   32  person for each person who is knowledgeable regarding the
   33  exposed person’s exposures to asbestos or silica.
   34         (c) The identity of the manufacturer or seller and specific
   35  name of each asbestos-containing product or silica-related
   36  product, including, but not limited to, all brand and trade
   37  names of the asbestos-containing or silica-related product, to
   38  which the exposed person was exposed or the other person was
   39  exposed if exposure was through another person.
   40         (d) For each product identified under paragraph (c), each
   41  site and the specific location at each site, including the
   42  address of each site, at which the exposed person was exposed to
   43  asbestos or silica or the other person was exposed if exposure
   44  was through another person.
   45         (e) The beginning and ending dates of each exposure, the
   46  specific manner of each exposure, the frequency and length of
   47  time of each exposure, and the proximity of the product or its
   48  use to the exposed person and each person through whom the
   49  exposed person alleges exposure to asbestos or silica.
   50         (f) The specific condition related to asbestos or silica
   51  claimed to exist.
   52         (g) Any supporting documentation relating to the
   53  information required under this section.
   54         (4) The court, upon motion by a defendant, shall dismiss a
   55  plaintiff’s asbestos or silica claim without prejudice as to any
   56  defendant whose product or premises is not specifically
   57  identified in the sworn information form under subsection (3).
   58         (5) The court, upon motion by a defendant, shall dismiss a
   59  claimant’s asbestos or silica claim without prejudice as to the
   60  moving defendant or as to all defendants, as applicable, if the
   61  claimant fails to comply with this section.
   62         (b) If the claimant alleges exposure to asbestos or silica
   63  through the testimony of another person or alleges other than
   64  direct or bystander exposure to a product, the name, address,
   65  date of birth, and marital status for each person by which the
   66  claimant alleges exposure, hereinafter the “index person,” and
   67  the claimant’s relationship to each such person;
   68         (c) The specific location of each alleged exposure;
   69         (d) The beginning and ending dates of each alleged exposure
   70  as to each asbestos product or silica product for each location
   71  at which exposure allegedly took place for the plaintiff and
   72  each index person;
   73         (e) The occupation and name of the employer of the exposed
   74  person at the time of each alleged exposure;
   75         (f) The specific condition related to asbestos or silica
   76  claimed to exist; and
   77         (g) Any supporting documentation of the condition claimed
   78  to exist.
   79         Section 2. Present subsections (1) through (5) of section
   80  774.209, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (2)
   81  through (6), respectively, and a new subsection (1) is added to
   82  that section, to read:
   83         774.209 Miscellaneous provisions.—
   84         (1) A product liability defendant in a civil action
   85  alleging an asbestos or a silica claim is not liable for an
   86  exposure from a later-added product manufactured, distributed,
   87  or sold by a third party.
   88         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.