Senate Bill 0376e1

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  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to civil actions; creating s.

  3         768.096, F.S.; providing an employer with a

  4         presumption against negligent hiring under

  5         specified conditions in an action for civil

  6         damages resulting from an intentional tort

  7         committed by an employee; amending s. 768.095,

  8         F.S.; revising the conditions under which an

  9         employer is immune from civil liability for

10         disclosing information regarding an employee to

11         a prospective employer; creating s. 768.071,

12         F.S.; providing limitations on premises

13         liability for a person or organization owning

14         or controlling an interest in a business

15         premises; amending s. 768.075, F.S.; modifying

16         the conditions under which a person or

17         organization owning or controlling an interest

18         in real property is liable for a trespasser's

19         injury or death; providing definitions;

20         providing for the avoidance of liability to

21         discovered and undiscovered trespassers under

22         described circumstances; providing immunity

23         from certain liability arising out of the

24         attempt to commit or the commission of a

25         felony; creating s. 768.36, F.S.; prohibiting a

26         plaintiff from recovering damages if plaintiff

27         is more than a specified percentage at fault

28         due to the influence of alcoholic beverages or

29         drugs; creating s. 768.098, F.S.; providing a

30         limitation of liability for employee leasing

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  1         under specified conditions; providing for

  2         severability; providing an effective date.

  3

  4  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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  6         Section 1.  Section 768.096, Florida Statutes, is

  7  created to read:

  8         768.096  Employer presumption against negligent

  9  hiring.--

10         (1)  In a civil action for the death of, or injury or

11  damage to, a third person caused by the intentional tort of an

12  employee, such employee's employer is presumed not to have

13  been negligent in hiring such employee if, before hiring the

14  employee, the employer conducted a background investigation of

15  the prospective employee and the investigation did not reveal

16  any information that reasonably demonstrated the unsuitability

17  of the prospective employee for the particular work to be

18  performed or for the employment in general. A background

19  investigation under this section must include:

20         (a)  Obtaining a criminal background investigation on

21  the prospective employee under subsection (2);

22         (b)  Making a reasonable effort to contact references

23  and former employers of the prospective employee concerning

24  the suitability of the prospective employee for employment;

25         (c)  Requiring the prospective employee to complete a

26  job application form that includes questions concerning

27  whether he or she has ever been convicted of a crime,

28  including details concerning the type of crime, the date of

29  conviction and the penalty imposed, and whether the

30  prospective employee has ever been a defendant in a civil

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  1  action for intentional tort, including the nature of the

  2  intentional tort and the disposition of the action;

  3         (d)  Obtaining, with written authorization from the

  4  prospective employee, a check of the driver's license record

  5  of the prospective employee if such a check is relevant to the

  6  work the employee will be performing and if the record can

  7  reasonably be obtained; and

  8         (e)  Interviewing the prospective employee.

  9         (2)  To satisfy the criminal-background-investigation

10  requirement of this section, an employer must request and

11  obtain from the Department of Law Enforcement a check of the

12  information as reported and reflected in the Florida Crime

13  Information Center system as of the date of the request.

14         (3)  The election by an employer not to conduct the

15  investigation specified in subsection (1) does not raise any

16  presumption that the employer failed to use reasonable care in

17  hiring an employee.

18         Section 2.  Section 768.095, Florida Statutes, is

19  amended to read:

20         768.095  Employer immunity from liability; disclosure

21  of information regarding former or current employees.--An

22  employer who discloses information about a former or current

23  employee employee's job performance to a prospective employer

24  of the former or current employee upon request of the

25  prospective employer or of the former or current employee is

26  presumed to be acting in good faith and, unless lack of good

27  faith is shown by clear and convincing evidence, is immune

28  from civil liability for such disclosure or its consequences

29  unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence. For

30  purposes of this section, the presumption of good faith is

31  rebutted upon a showing that the information disclosed by the


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  1  former or current employer was knowingly false or deliberately

  2  misleading, was rendered with malicious purpose, or violated

  3  any civil right of the former or current employee protected

  4  under chapter 760.

  5         Section 3.  Section 768.071, Florida Statutes, is

  6  created to read:

  7         768.071  Business premises liability; areas outside

  8  enclosed buildings.--Notwithstanding any other provision of

  9  law to the contrary, a person or organization owning or

10  controlling an interest in a business premises shall be liable

11  for civil damages for the death of, or injury or damage to, an

12  invitee or guest caused by a criminal act committed by a

13  person who is not an employee or agent of the business and

14  occurring on part of the business premises that is not within

15  an enclosed building only if the person or organization owning

16  or controlling an interest in the business premises

17  disregarded his or her duty to protect invitees or guests on

18  the property. For purposes of this section a person or

19  organization owning or controlling an interest in a business

20  premises may be found to have disregarded his or her duty to

21  protect invitees or guests only if the person or organization

22  owning or controlling an interest in the business premises

23  knew that a criminal act was likely to occur on the portions

24  of the property that are not within an enclosed building and

25  failed to take any corrective action which could have

26  prevented the injury.

27         Section 4.  Section 768.075, Florida Statutes, is

28  amended to read:

29         768.075  Immunity from liability for injury to

30  trespassers on real property.--

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  1         (1)  A person or organization owning or controlling an

  2  interest in real property, or an agent of such person or

  3  organization, shall not be held liable for any civil damages

  4  for death of or injury or damage to a trespasser upon the

  5  property resulting from or arising by reason of the

  6  trespasser's commission of the offense of trespass as

  7  described in s. 810.08 or s. 810.09, when such trespasser was

  8  under the influence of alcoholic beverages with a

  9  blood-alcohol level of 0.08 0.10 percent or higher, when such

10  trespasser was under the influence of any chemical substance

11  set forth in s. 877.111, when such trespasser was illegally

12  under the influence of any substance controlled under chapter

13  893, or if the trespasser is affected by any of the aforesaid

14  substances to the extent that her or his normal faculties are

15  impaired. For the purposes of this section, voluntary

16  intoxication or impediment of faculties by use of alcohol or

17  any of the aforementioned substances shall not excuse a party

18  bringing an action or on whose behalf an action is brought

19  from proving the elements of trespass. However, the person or

20  organization owning or controlling the interest in real

21  property shall not be immune from liability if gross

22  negligence or intentional willful and wanton misconduct on the

23  part of such person or organization or agent thereof is a

24  proximate cause of the death of or injury or damage to the

25  trespasser.

26         (2)  A person or organization owning or controlling an

27  interest in real property, or an agent of such person or

28  organization, is not liable for any civil damages for the

29  death of or injury or damage to any discovered or undiscovered

30  trespasser, except as provided in paragraphs (3)(a), (b), and

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  1  (c), and regardless of whether the trespasser was intoxicated

  2  or otherwise impaired.

  3         (3)(a)  As used in this subsection, the term:

  4         1.  "Invitation" means that the visitor entering the

  5  premises has an objectively reasonable belief that he or she

  6  has been invited or is otherwise welcome on that portion of

  7  the real property where injury occurs.

  8         2.  "Discovered trespasser" means a person who enters

  9  real property without invitation, either express or implied,

10  and whose actual physical presence was detected, within 24

11  hours preceding the accident, by the person or organization

12  owning or controlling an interest in real property or to whose

13  actual physical presence the person or organization owning or

14  controlling an interest in real property was alerted by a

15  reliable source within 24 hours preceding the accident. The

16  status of a person who enters real property shall not be

17  elevated to that of an invitee, unless the person or

18  organization owning or controlling an interest in real

19  property has issued an express invitation to enter the

20  property or has manifested a clear intent to hold the property

21  open to use by persons pursuing purposes such as those pursued

22  by the person whose status is at issue.

23         3.  "Undiscovered trespasser" means a person who enters

24  property without invitation, either express or implied, and

25  whose actual physical presence was not detected, within 24

26  hours preceding the accident, by the person or organization

27  owning or controlling an interest in real property.

28         (b)  To avoid liability to undiscovered trespassers, a

29  person or organization owning or controlling an interest in

30  real property must refrain from intentional misconduct, but

31  has no duty to warn of dangerous conditions. To avoid


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  1  liability to discovered trespassers, a person or organization

  2  owning or controlling an interest in real property must

  3  refrain from gross negligence or intentional misconduct, and

  4  must warn the trespasser of dangerous conditions that are

  5  known to the person or organization owning or controlling an

  6  interest in real property but that are not readily observable

  7  by others.

  8         (c)  This subsection shall not be interpreted or

  9  construed to alter the common law as it pertains to the

10  "attractive nuisance doctrine."

11         (4)  A person or organization owning or controlling an

12  interest in real property, or an agent of such person or

13  organization, shall not be held liable for negligence that

14  results in the death of, injury to, or damage to a person who

15  is attempting to commit a felony or who is engaged in the

16  commission of a felony on the property.

17         Section 5.  Section 768.36, Florida Statutes, is

18  created to read:

19         768.36  Alcohol or drug defense.--

20         (1)  As used in this section, the term:

21         (a)  "Alcoholic beverage" means distilled spirits and

22  any beverage that contains 0.5 percent or more alcohol by

23  volume as determined in accordance with s. 561.01(4)(b).

24         (b)  "Drug" means any chemical substance set forth in

25  s. 877.111 or any substance controlled under chapter 893. The

26  term does not include any drug or medication obtained pursuant

27  to a prescription as defined in s. 893.02 which was taken in

28  accordance with the prescription, or any medication that is

29  authorized under state or federal law for general distribution

30  and use without a prescription in treating human diseases,

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  1  ailments, or injuries and that was taken in the recommended

  2  dosage.

  3         (2)  In any civil action, a plaintiff may not recover

  4  any damages for loss or injury to his or her person or

  5  property if the trier of fact finds that, at the time the

  6  plaintiff was injured:

  7         (a)  The plaintiff was under the influence of any

  8  alcoholic beverage or drug to the extent that the plaintiff's

  9  normal faculties were impaired or the plaintiff had a blood or

10  breath alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher; and

11         (b)  As a result of the influence of such alcoholic

12  beverage or drug the plaintiff was more than 50 percent at

13  fault for his or her own harm.

14         Section 6.  Section 768.098, Florida Statutes, is

15  created to read:

16         768.098  Limitation of liability for employee

17  leasing.--

18         (1)  An employer in a joint employment relationship

19  pursuant to s. 468.520 shall not be liable for the tortious

20  actions of another employer in that relationship, or for the

21  tortious actions of any jointly employed employee under that

22  relationship, provided that:

23         (a)  The employer seeking to avoid liability pursuant

24  to this section did not authorize or direct the tortious

25  action;

26         (b)  The employer seeking to avoid liability pursuant

27  to this section did not have actual knowledge of the tortious

28  conduct and fail to take appropriate action;

29         (c)  The employer seeking to avoid liability pursuant

30  to this section did not have actual control over the day to

31  day job duties of the jointly employed employee who has


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  1  committed a tortious act nor actual control over the portion

  2  of a job site at which or from which the tortious conduct

  3  arose or at which and from which a jointly employed employee

  4  worked, and that said control was assigned to the other

  5  employer under the contract;

  6         (d)  The employer seeking to avoid liability pursuant

  7  to this section is expressly absolved in the written contract

  8  forming the joint employment relationship of control over the

  9  day to day job duties of the jointly employed employee who has

10  committed a tortious act, and of the portion of the job site

11  at which or from which the tortious conduct arose or at which

12  and from which the jointly employed employee worked, and that

13  said control was assigned to the other employer under the

14  contract; and

15         (e)  Complaints, allegations or incidents of any

16  tortious misconduct or workplace safety violations, regardless

17  of the source, are required to be reported to the employer

18  seeking to avoid liability pursuant to this section by all

19  other joint employers under the written contract forming the

20  joint employment relationship, and that the employer seeking

21  to avoid liability pursuant to this section did not fail to

22  take appropriate action as a result of receiving any such

23  report related to a jointly employed employee who has

24  committed a tortious act.

25         (2)  An employer seeking to avoid liability pursuant to

26  this section shall not be presumed to have actual control over

27  the day to day job duties of the jointly employed employee who

28  has committed a tortious act, nor actual control over the

29  portion of a job site at which or from which that employee

30  worked, based solely upon the fact that the employee at issue

31  is a leased employee.


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  1         (3)  This section shall not alter any responsibilities

  2  of the joint employer who has actual control over the day to

  3  day job duties of the jointly employed employee and who has

  4  actual control over the portion of a job site at which or from

  5  which the employee is employed, which arises from s. 768.096.

  6         Section 7.  If any provision of this act or the

  7  application thereof to any person or circumstance is held

  8  invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or

  9  applications of the act which can be given effect without the

10  invalid provision or application, and to this end the

11  provisions of this act are declared severable.

12         Section 8.  This act shall take effect October 1, 1999.

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