Gen. Dynamics Corp.. v. Brottem

• Decision Date: 30 December 2010
• Docket Number: No. 5D09–3719.,5D09–3719.
• Citation: 53 So.3d 334,31 IER Cases 1225
• Parties: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION, et al., Appellant,v.Wallace BROTTEM, et al., Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

53 So.3d 334

31 IER Cases 1225

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION, et al., Appellant,

v.Wallace BROTTEM, et al., Appellee.

No. 5D09–3719.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

Dec. 30, 2010.

Mark D. Tinker, Charles W. Hall, and David C. Schwartz, of Banker Lopez Gassler, P.A., St. Petersburg, for Appellants.Paul M. Smith, Admitted Pro Hac Vice, of Jenner & Block LLP, Washington, DC, and Chris C. Gair, of Jenner & Block LLP, Chicago, IL, for Appellants.Thomas A. Koval and Ricardo H. Piedra, Sarasota, for Florida Insurance Council, Amicus Curiae, and Tamela I. Perdue, Tallahassee, for Associated Industries of Florida, Amicus Curiae.Elizabeth K. Russo and Nicholas A. Shannin, of Russo Appellate Firm, P.A., Miami, Overchuch, DeMarco, Byron & Overchuck, P.A., Winter Park, and Page, Eichenblatt, Bernbaum & Bennett, P.A., Orlando, for Appellees.LAWSON, J.

General Dynamics Corporation and General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., (collectively “General Dynamics”), defendants below, timely appeal a non-final order denying their motion for final summary judgment asserting immunity from suit under Florida's Workers' Compensation Act, (the “Act”).¹ The forty-one plaintiffs were all former General Dynamics employees (or their legal representatives), who sued under Florida's Water Quality Assurance Act, (the “WQAA”),² for personal injuries or wrongful deaths allegedly caused by occupational exposure to hazardous substances at General Dynamics' telephone equipment manufacturing facility in Lake Mary, Florida. We hold that Defendants are entitled to workers' compensation immunity and reverse.

Plaintiffs' Claims

Plaintiffs allege that General Dynamics improperly stored, spilled, discharged, disposed of and dumped toxic chemicals in and around its Lake Mary facility, contaminating the facility (along with the land, water and groundwater at and around the facility) to levels hazardous to human health and safety. Plaintiffs claim damages for the physical illnesses (and, in some cases, death), caused by their exposure to this toxic pollution while working at the facility.

Florida's Water Quality Assurance Act

The WQAA, specifically section 376.313, provides a strict liability cause of action against owners of real property for damages caused by surface or ground water contaminants on the property. A person bringing a WQAA suit does not need to “plead or prove negligence in any form or manner ... [but] need only plead and prove the fact of the prohibited discharge or other pollutive condition and that it has occurred.” § 376.313(3), Fla. Stat. (2008). This subsection then provides that “[t]he only defenses to such cause of action shall be those provided in s. 376.308.” Section 376.308 lists four basic defenses: “(a) An act of war; (b) An act of government ...; (c) An act of God ...; or (d) An act or omission of a third party, other than an employee or agent of the defendant....” § 376.308(2), Fla. Stat. (2008).

Florida's Workers' Compensation Act

Florida Workers' Compensation Act sets forth a comprehensive scheme providing disability and medical benefits to workers injured during the course of their employment. See generally §§ 440.01–440.60, Fla. Stat. (2008); Bakerman v. Bombay Co., Inc., 961 So.2d 259 (Fla.2007). Employees who fall within the Act's scope are generally compensated irrespective of the employer's fault in causing their injuries. See §§ 440.09, 440.10(2), Fla. Stat. (2008). In exchange, employers complying with the Act are given immunity from civil suit by the employee, except in cases where “[t]he employer deliberately intended to injure the employee” or “[t]he employer engaged in conduct that the employer knew ... was virtually certain to result in injury or death to the employee ....” § 440.11(1)(b), Fla. Stat. (2008). “The philosophy of workmen's compensation is that when employer and employee accept the terms of the [A]ct their relations become contractual and other statutes authorizing recovery ... become ineffective.” Howze v. Lykes Bros., 64 So.2d 277, 277–78 (Fla.1953) (citations omitted). In this regard, the Act provides that workers' compensation “shall be exclusive and in place of all other liability” for “anyone otherwise entitled to recover damages from [an] employer ... [for an employee's] injury or death.” § 440.11(1), Fla. Stat. (2008).

It is undisputed that during all relevant timeframes, approximately 1969 through 1982, General Dynamics maintained workers' compensation insurance coverage for its employees, including Plaintiffs. Further, Plaintiffs have not attempted to plead their cause of action as an intentional tort, so as to fall within the Act's exception for intentional employer misconduct. And, Florida courts have consistently held that the Act applies to injuries caused by workplace exposure to hazardous substances. See, e.g., Czepial v. Krohne Roofing Co., 93 So.2d 84 (Fla.1957); Wilks v. Boston Whaler, Inc., 691 So.2d 629 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997); Eastern Airlines, Inc. v. Crittenden, 596 So.2d 112 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Wiley v. Southeast Erectors, Inc., 573 So.2d 946 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Brevard Co. Mental Health Ctr. v. Kelly, 420 So.2d 911 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982).

Apparent Conflict Between the Act and the WQAA

Sections 373.313(3) and 440.11(1), Florida Statutes, appear to conflict. Section 440.11(1) makes workers' compensation the “exclusive” remedy for an employee's injuries, “in place of all other liability” against his or her employer. Thus, section 440.11(1) would afford General Dynamics workers' compensation immunity from Plaintiffs' WQAA claims. However, section 376.313(3) limits defenses for a WQAA claim to “only” those listed in section 376.308. And, that section does not list workers' compensation immunity as a recognized WQAA defense.

Analysis

Courts faced with conflicting statutes must attempt to “adopt an interpretation that harmonizes the related statutes while giving effect to each.” State v. Miller, 888 So.2d 76, 77 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004) (citations omitted). Toward that end, we have carefully considered the text of each statute and believe that there is a reasonable interpretation of the relevant WQAA text that does not conflict with the exclusive liability clause of the Workers' Compensation Act. See Antonin Scalia, A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law 23 (Princeton University Press 1997) (“A text should not be construed strictly, and it should not be construed leniently; it should be construed reasonably to contain all that it fairly means.”).

Our analysis focuses on what the WQAA means when it says that “the only defenses to such cause of action are those provided in s. 376.308.” In context, this language follows immediately after the strict liability language of the statute, which relieves a potential plaintiff of the burden to prove negligence “in any form or manner” by the defendant, and makes the defendant liable based solely upon proof that pollution occurred on its land. The “only defenses” language then creates exceptions to the rule of strict liability announced in the prior sentence for acts of God, acts of war, acts of the government and acts of others. Viewed in context, then, the “only defenses” language can reasonably be read as dealing with fault-focused defenses or, put another way, strict liability exceptions.³

At least one federal court has reached a similar conclusion in construing language in the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), 43 U.S.C. § 9601, et seq., which contains a comparable provision allowing as the “only defenses” acts of war, acts of God and acts of third parties. See 42 U.S.C. § 9607(b).⁴ In Town of Munster v. Sherwin–Williams Co., Inc., 27 F.3d 1268, 1271–72 (7th Cir.1994), the Seventh Circuit held that the comparable CERCLA language bars a defendant from raising equitable defenses to liability. Although beyond the necessary scope of the holding in that case, the Sherwin–Williams court further commented that it “doubt[ed] seriously” that the word “ ‘defenses' as CERCLA employs that term” meant statutory or legal defenses “in a broad sense.” Id. at 1272. Rather, the court explained that the term “defenses” appears to be “addressing the causation element of the underlying tort” or defenses “negating the plaintiff's prima facie showing of liability.” The court then concluded that the “only defenses” language could not reasonably be read as barring defenses which “interpose[ ] a legal or statutory shield against having to litigate (or relitigate) the issue or case[,]” such as “ res judicata, collateral estoppel,” and other similar defenses. Id.

Although this language from the Sherwin–Williams case is clearly dicta, even Plaintiffs concede that it would not be reasonable to read section 376.313(3) as barring all legal and statutory defenses not listed in section 376.308, Florida Statutes, as a bar to WQAA claims. For example, Plaintiffs concede that if they were to settle their WQAA claims with General Dynamics, and exchange releases, the releases could be raised as a defense to any further WQAA claims by Plaintiffs—even though release and settlement are not listed in section 378.308 as available defenses. Similarly, Plaintiffs concede that the “only defenses” language cannot reasonably be read as barring defenses such as improper venue, lack of personal jurisdiction, res judicata, and the statute of limitations. Of course, workers' compensation immunity is similar to these other basic statutory or legal defenses in that workers' compensation immunity acts as a shield against having to litigate the case in the first instance—the same distinction drawn by the Sherwin–Williams court.

Construing the “only defenses” language more narrowly, as addressing exceptions to the general rule of strict liability, and not as broadly referring to any and all statutory or legal defenses, resolves the apparent conflict between the WQAA and the Act. This is a more...