Opinion ID: 1894271
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Spilman and Hamilton

Text: In the opinion below, the Third District identified the conflict between the Fourth and Fifth Districts as to whether the Wrongful Death Act controlled damages for causes of action brought under section 400.023(1). Somberg, 779 So.2d at 668 (adopting the position of the Fifth District's decision in Spilman and certifying conflict with the Fourth District's decision in Hamilton ). In Spilman, the Fifth District disagreed with a nursing home's argument that any damages available to a personal representative under chapter 400 were controlled by the Wrongful Death Act. Spilman, 661 So.2d at 868. Writing for the court, Judge Peterson emphasized the plain meaning of the language in section 400.023(1) expressly authorizing the recovery of damages, as well as the express language providing that the chapter 400 remedies were in addition to and cumulative of any other legal and administrative remedies available to a resident. See id. Judge Peterson also found confirmation of his policy analysis in the legislative history surrounding the 1986 amendment to section 400.023(1), which gave personal representatives the right to bring a suit for violations of a decedent's chapter 400 rights. See id. at 869. In Hamilton, the Fourth District came to a different result, in part because the court disagreed with Spilman's reliance on legislative committee reports because a long line of Florida case law holds that the legislative history of a statute is irrelevant where the wording of a statute is clear. Hamilton, 740 So.2d at 1195-96. The Fourth District also relied on the rule of statutory construction that presumes that the Legislature does not intend for a statute to change the common law unless the statute is explicit and clear in that regard. See id. The Hamilton court noted that because causes of action for wrongful death did not exist at common law, all causes of action for wrongful death are created and controlled by the Wrongful Death Act. See id. As noted above, we find the plain language of section 400.023(1) to explicitly and clearly create a cause of action separate and independent from the Wrongful Death Act with its own damages. Therefore, there is no need to resort to an examination of legislative history or other rules of statutory interpretation and construction to determine that section 400.023(1) damages are not controlled by the Wrongful Death Act.