Chapter 768 Negligence
Part I - General Provisions (ss. 768.041-768.37)
- §768.041 Release or covenant not to sue.
(1) A release or covenant not to sue as to one tortfeasor for property damage to, personal injury of, or the wrongful death of any person...
- §768.0415 Liability for injury to parent.
A person who, through negligence, causes significant permanent injury to the natural or adoptive parent of an unmarried dependent resulting in a permanent total disability...
- §768.042 Damages.
(1) In any action brought in the circuit court to recover damages for personal injury or wrongful death, the amount of general damages shall not be...
- §768.0425 Damages in actions against contractors for injuries sustained from negligence, malfeasance, or misfeasance.
(1) For purposes of this section only, the term "contractor" means any person who contracts to perform any construction or building service which is regulated by...
- §768.043 Remittitur and additur actions arising out of operation of motor vehicles.
(1) In any action for the recovery of damages based on personal injury or wrongful death arising out of the operation of a motor vehicle, whether...
- §768.07 Railroad liability for injury to employees.
If any person is injured by a railroad company by the running of the locomotives or cars, or other machinery of such company, the person...
- §768.0705 Limitation on premises liability.
The owner or operator of a convenience business that substantially implements the applicable security measures listed in ss. 812.173 and 812.174 shall gain a presumption...
- §768.0710 Burden of proof in claims of negligence involving transitory foreign objects or substances against persons or entities in possession or control of business premises.
(1) The person or entity in possession or control of business premises owes a duty of reasonable care to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe...
- §768.075 Immunity from liability for injury to trespassers on real property.
(1) A person or organization owning or controlling an interest in real property, or an agent of such person or organization, shall not be held liable...
- §768.08 Liability of corporations having relief department for injury to employees; contracts in violation of act void.
Any person, association of persons, or corporation that has, or shall hereafter have, a relief department for the benefit of their or its employees, or...
- §768.091 Employer liability limits; ridesharing.
(1) No employer shall be liable for injuries or damages sustained by operators, passengers, or other persons resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle while...
- §768.093 Owner liability limits; powered shopping carts.
(1) For the purposes of this section, the term "powered shopping cart" means an electrically powered assistive technology device which is generally used in a retail...
- §768.095 Employer immunity from liability; disclosure of information regarding former or current employees.
An employer who discloses information about a former or current employee to a prospective employer of the former or current employee upon request of the...
- §768.096 Employer presumption against negligent hiring.
(1) In a civil action for the death of, or injury or damage to, a third person caused by the intentional tort of an employee, such...
- §768.098 Limitation of liability for employee leasing.
(1) An employer in a joint employment relationship pursuant to s. 468.520 shall not be liable for the tortious actions of another employer in that relationship,...
- §768.0981 Limitation on actions against insurers, prepaid limited health service organizations, health maintenance organizations, or prepaid health clinics.
An entity licensed or certified under chapter 624, chapter 636, or chapter 641 shall not be liable for the medical negligence of a health care...
- §768.10 Pits and holes not to be left open.
It is not lawful for any company or individual to leave open any pit or other hole outside of an enclosure of a greater depth...
- §768.11 Pits and holes; measure of damages.
Any company or individual who may leave open pits or other holes contrary to the provisions of s. 768.10 shall be liable in damages to...
- §768.12 Motor vehicle colliding with any animal at large on a public highway.
Whenever a motor vehicle collides with any animal at large on a public highway of this state, and the operator of the motor vehicle dies...
- §768.125 Liability for injury or damage resulting from intoxication.
A person who sells or furnishes alcoholic beverages to a person of lawful drinking age shall not thereby become liable for injury or damage caused...
- §768.1256 Government rules defense.
(1) In a product liability action brought against a manufacturer or seller for harm allegedly caused by a product, there is a rebuttable presumption that the...
- §768.1257 State-of-the-art defense for products liability.
In an action based upon defective design, brought against the manufacturer of a product, the finder of fact shall consider the state of the art...
- §768.128 Hazardous spills; definitions; persons who assist in containing or treating spills; immunity from liability; exceptions.
(1) For the purpose of this section: (a) The term "hazardous materials" includes all materials and substances which are now designated or defined as hazardous by the...
- §768.13 Good Samaritan Act; immunity from civil liability.
(1) This act shall be known and cited as the "Good Samaritan Act." (2)(a) Any person, including those licensed to practice medicine, who gratuitously and in good...
- §768.1315 Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters' Assistance Act; immunity from civil liability.
(1) SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the "Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters' Assistance Act." (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term: (a) "Authorized technician" means a...
- §768.1325 Cardiac Arrest Survival Act; immunity from civil liability.
(1) This section may be cited as the "Cardiac Arrest Survival Act." (2) As used in this section: (a) "Perceived medical emergency" means circumstances in which the behavior...
- §768.1326 Placement of automated external defibrillators in state buildings; rulemaking authority.
No later than January 1, 2003, the 1State Surgeon General shall adopt rules to establish guidelines on the appropriate placement of automated external defibrillator devices...
- §768.1335 Emergency Medical Dispatch Act; presumption.
(1) This section may be known by the popular name the "Emergency Medical Dispatch Act." (2) As used in this section: (a) "Emergency medical dispatch" means the function...
- §768.1345 Professional malpractice; immunity.
No person shall have a claim for professional malpractice against a licensed professional who provides services for which no compensation is sought or received to...
- §768.135 Volunteer team physicians; immunity.
Any person licensed to practice medicine pursuant to chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, or chapter 466: (1) Who is acting in the capacity...
- §768.1355 Florida Volunteer Protection Act.
(1) Any person who volunteers to perform any service for any nonprofit organization, including an officer or director of such organization, without compensation, except reimbursement for...
- §768.136 Liability for canned or perishable food distributed free of charge.
(1) As used in this section: (a) "Donor" means a person, business, organization, or institution which owns, rents, leases, or operates: 1. Any building, vehicle, place, or structure,...
- §768.137 Definition; limitation of civil liability for certain farmers; exception.
(1) For the purposes of this section, the term "farmer" means a person who is engaging in the growing or producing of farm produce, either part...
- §768.138 Interruption of electric utility service by order of law enforcement; immunity.
The good-faith compliance by an electric utility, as defined in s. 366.02, or the utility's personnel, with a law enforcement or judicial order to interrupt...
- §768.1382 Streetlights, security lights, and other similar illumination; limitation on liability.
(1) As used in this section, the term: (a) "Actual notice" means notification to the streetlight provider that is acknowledged by the streetlight provider in accordance with...
- §768.14 Suit by state; waiver of sovereign immunity.
Suit by the state or any of its agencies or subdivisions to recover damages in tort shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity from liability...
- §768.16 Wrongful Death Act.
Sections 768.16-768.26 may be cited as the "Florida Wrongful Death Act." History.--s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 105, ch. 2003-1. ...
- §768.17 Legislative intent.
It is the public policy of the state to shift the losses resulting when wrongful death occurs from the survivors of the decedent to the...
- §768.18 Definitions.
As used in ss. 768.16-768.26: (1) "Survivors" means the decedent's spouse, children, parents, and, when partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services,...
- §768.19 Right of action.
When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty of any person, including those...
- §768.20 Parties.
The action shall be brought by the decedent's personal representative, who shall recover for the benefit of the decedent's survivors and estate all damages, as...
- §768.21 Damages.
All potential beneficiaries of a recovery for wrongful death, including the decedent's estate, shall be identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the decedent...
- §768.22 Form of verdict.
The amounts awarded to each survivor and to the estate shall be stated separately in the verdict. History.--s. 1, ch. 72-35. ...
- §768.23 Protection of minors and incompetents.
The court shall provide protection for any amount awarded for the benefit of a minor child or an incompetent pursuant to the Florida Guardianship Law....
- §768.24 Death of a survivor before judgment.
A survivor's death before final judgment shall limit the survivor's recovery to lost support and services to the date of his or her death. The...
- §768.25 Court approval of settlements.
While an action under this act is pending, no settlement as to amount or apportionment among the beneficiaries which is objected to by any survivor...
- §768.26 Litigation expenses.
Attorneys' fees and other expenses of litigation shall be paid by the personal representative and deducted from the awards to the survivors and the estate...
- §768.28 Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions; recovery limits; limitation on attorney fees; statute of limitations; exclusions; indemnification; risk management programs.
(1) In accordance with s. 13, Art. X of the State Constitution, the state, for itself and for its agencies or subdivisions, hereby waives sovereign immunity...
- §768.295 Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suits by governmental entities prohibited.
(1) This section may be cited as the "Citizen Participation in Government Act." (2) It is the intent of the Legislature to protect the right of Florida's...
- §768.31 Contribution among tortfeasors.
(1) SHORT TITLE.--This act shall be cited as the "Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act." (2) RIGHT TO CONTRIBUTION.-- (a) Except as otherwise provided in this act, when two...
- §768.35 Continuing domestic violence.
(1) A victim of domestic violence, as defined in s. 741.28, who has suffered repeated physical or psychological injuries over an extended period of time, as...
- §768.36 Alcohol or drug defense.
(1) As used in this section, the term: (a) "Alcoholic beverage" means distilled spirits and any beverage that contains 0.5 percent or more alcohol by volume as...
- §768.37 Limitation on civil liability arising from long-term consumption of food and nonalcoholic beverages.
No manufacturer, distributor, or seller of foods or nonalcoholic beverages intended for human consumption shall be subject to civil liability for personal injury or wrongful...
Part II - Damages (ss. 768.71-768.81)
- §768.71 Applicability; conflicts.
(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided, this part applies to any action for damages, whether in tort or in contract. (2) This part applies only to causes...
- §768.72 Pleading in civil actions; claim for punitive damages.
(1) In any civil action, no claim for punitive damages shall be permitted unless there is a reasonable showing by evidence in the record or proffered...
- §768.725 Punitive damages; burden of proof.
In all civil actions, the plaintiff must establish at trial, by clear and convincing evidence, its entitlement to an award of punitive damages. The "greater...
- §768.73 Punitive damages; limitation.
(1)(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c), an award of punitive damages may not exceed the greater of: 1. Three times the amount of compensatory...
- §768.733 Bonds in class actions; limitations.
(1) In any civil action that is brought as a certified class action, the trial court, upon the posting of a bond or equivalent surety as...
- §768.734 Capacity to sue.
(1)(a) In any action asserting the right to class action status, the claimant class having capacity to sue shall be limited to residents of this state...
- §768.735 Punitive damages; exceptions; limitation.
(1) Sections 768.72(2)-(4), 768.725, and 768.73 do not apply to any civil action based upon child abuse, abuse of the elderly under chapter 415, or abuse...
- §768.736 Punitive damages; exceptions for intoxication.
Sections 768.725 and 768.73 do not apply to any defendant who, at the time of the act or omission for which punitive damages are sought,...
- §768.737 Punitive damages; application in arbitration.
Where punitive damages are available as a remedy in an arbitration proceeding, ss. 768.72, 768.725, and 768.73 apply. When an award of punitive damages is...
- §768.74 Remittitur and additur.
(1) In any action to which this part applies wherein the trier of fact determines that liability exists on the part of the defendant and a...
- §768.75 Optional settlement conference in certain tort actions.
(1) In any action to which this part applies, the court may require a settlement conference to be held at least 3 weeks before the date...
- §768.76 Collateral sources of indemnity.
(1) In any action to which this part applies in which liability is admitted or is determined by the trier of fact and in which damages...
- §768.77 Itemized verdict.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), in any action to which this part applies in which the trier of fact determines that liability exists on...
- §768.78 Alternative methods of payment of damage awards.
(1)(a) In any action to which this part applies in which the court determines that an award to compensate the claimant includes future economic losses which...
- §768.79 Offer of judgment and demand for judgment.
(1) In any civil action for damages filed in the courts of this state, if a defendant files an offer of judgment which is not accepted...
- §768.81 Comparative fault.
(1) DEFINITION.--As used in this section, "economic damages" means past lost income and future lost income reduced to present value; medical and funeral expenses; lost support...
