Court Opinion

ID: 9448584
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:40:43.105037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:29.753312
License: Public Domain

ON PETITION FOR REHEARING.
PER CURIAM.
So far as concerns this case, the following facts are established by the jury’s answers to interrogatories under Rule 49 (b), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A.: (1) The decedent Green had primary cancer in his left lung; (2) the cancer in his left lung was the cause or one of the causes of his death; (3) the smoking of Lucky Strike cigarettes on the part of the decedent, Green, was a proximate cause or one of the proximate causes of the development of cancer in his left lung; (4) American Tobacco Company could not on, or prior to, February 1, 1956, by the reasonable application of human skill and foresight, have known that users of Lucky Strike cigarettes, such as the decedent, Green, would be endangered, by the inhalation of the main stream smoke from Lucky Strike cigarettes, of contracting cancer of the lung.
Those interrogatories were propounded and answered upon the assumption of certain facts which appear without dispute, such as: (a) At all pertinent times American Tobacco Company has *86been and still is the manufacturer and distributor of Lucky Strike cigarettes; (b) by February 1, 1956, the primary cancer in the left lung of decedent Green had been definitely diagnosed. He died on February 25, 1958.
In this diversity action, Florida law governs the rights and liabilities of the parties. Does the law of Florida impose on a manufacturer and distributor of cigarettes absolute liability, as for breach of implied warranty, for death caused by using such cigarettes from 1924 or 1925 until February 1, 1956, the cancer having developed prior to February .1, 1956, and the death occurring February 25, 1958, when the defendant manufacturer and distributor could not on, or prior to, February 1, 1956, by the reasonable application of human skill and foresight, have known that users of such cigarettes would be endangered, by the inhalation of the main stream smoke from such cigarettes, of contracting cancer of the lung? There is no Florida decision precisely in point and so clearly on all fours as to be dispositive of this question or proposition of law.
In view of the importance of the question, and in especial consideration of the fact that one of the Judges of this Court dissented from this Court's disposition of that question on original hearing, and that the Judges of this Court, on petition for rehearing, remain of the same views as expressed in their opinions on original hearing, this Court has decided to grant the petition for rehearing to the extent necessary to certify such question or proposition of the laws of Florida to the Supreme Court of Florida, as provided for under Section 25.031, Florida Statutes 1959, F.S.A., as implemented by Rule 4.61 of the Florida Appellate Rules, 31 F.S.A. (In re Florida Appellate Rules, Fla., 127 So.2d 444, March 1, 1961). See Clay v. Sun Insurance Office, 1960, 363 U.S. 207, 212, 80 S.Ct. 1222, 4 L.Ed.2d 1170; Sun Insurance Office v. Clay, Fla., 133 So.2d 735.
The parties are requested to stipulate,, if possible, the contents of the certificate as provided for in said rule. If they are-unable so to stipulate, they should report to this Court their respective views on or before August 1, 1962.1
To such extent the petition for rehearing is
Granted.

. Such report may be typed, and accompanied by brief which may be either typed or printed, at least four legible copies to-be filed.