Peoples Gas System v. Posen Construction, Inc.
Answering a certified question from the Eleventh Circuit, the Florida Supreme Court held that the Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act (ch. 556) implicitly creates a standalone cause of action sounding in negligence, subject to proximate causation and the comparative fault defense. The Court held that recoverable 'losses' under sections 556.106(2)(a)-(b) may include purely economic damages independent of personal injury or property damage, but that the Act creates no cause of action for 'statutory indemnity,' so a member operator cannot automatically recover a settlement it paid a third party regardless of its own fault. Justice Polston, joined by Justice Labarga, dissented, reading 'total sum of the losses to all parties involved' broadly to permit recovery of the settlement payment.
Key facts
- Peoples Gas System, a member operator under Florida's Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act, sought recovery for losses resulting from an excavation incident, including damages claimed under sections 556.106(2)(a)-(b).
- The Eleventh Circuit certified to the Florida Supreme Court the question of whether chapter 556 creates a standalone cause of action, what types of damages are recoverable, and whether the Act permits recovery of settlement payments made to third parties.
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Why it matters
This is the Florida Supreme Court's first definitive construction of the Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act's liability provisions, an issue that recurs in utility-strike and excavation-damage… — full analysis with a trial
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