REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY v. MATTSON ESTATE OF KONZELMAN (2022)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, Appellant, v. Sandra L. MATTSON, as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF Eleanor KONZELMAN, Appellee.

No. 4D16-4310

Decided: March 16, 2022

Ashley C. Parrish of King & Spalding LLP, Washington, D.C., and William L. Durham II and Val Leppert of King & Spalding LLP, Atlanta, Georgia, for appellant. John S. Mills and Courtney Brewer of The Mills Firm, P.A., Tallahassee, and Eric Rosen of Rosen Injury Law, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA

In R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Konzelman, 248 So. 3d 134 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), we concluded that the pre-1999 version of section 768.73, Florida Statutes, applies in an Engle progeny personal injury suit that is converted into a wrongful death action upon the smoker's death.

In R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Mattson, SC18-1550, 2022 WL 500290 (Fla. Feb. 18, 2022)¹ , our supreme court quashed Konzelman and remanded with instructions for reconsideration upon application of the decision in Sheffield v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 329 So. 3d 114 (Fla. 2021). In Sheffield, the supreme court held that the 1999 amendments to section 768.73 apply to Engle progeny wrongful death actions in which the decedent died after October 1, 1999.

Based on Sheffield, we reverse and remand to the trial court for application of the amended version of section 768.73 in determining the punitive damage award as required by Sheffield.

Reversed and remanded with instructions.

FOOTNOTES

1. Mattson was substituted as appellee after the personal representative, Alan Konzelman, passed away.

Per Curiam.

Conner, C.J., Levine and Forst, JJ., concur.

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