Williams v. Am. Optical Corp.
985 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008)
Under § 774.204(1) of the Florida Asbestos and Silica Compensation Fairness Act, a claimant bringing an action for damages from exposure to asbestos had to plead and prove an existing malignancy or actual physical impairment for which asbestos exposure was a substantial contributing factor. The claimants argued that before the Act's adoption, it was merely necessary under common law for them to show that they had suffered an injury from an asbestos-related disease. As they filed their suits before the Act went into law in 2005, it could not be applied retroactively to bar their claims. The appellate court agreed. For each claimant, the cause of action had passed from an expectation to the accrual of the right to sue for damages. The invalid portions of the Act were not severable, and the Act in its entirety could not constitutionally be applied retroactively to require claimants with accrued causes of action for damages resulting from exposure to asbestos to plead and prove that any malignancy or physical impairment resulted from their exposure to asbestos. Instead, their accrued causes of action required them to show only that they suffered an injury from an asbestos-related, non-malignant disease.