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Defending Liability, Workers' Compensation, Employment Claims and Appeals Since 1982

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Wrongful death — Medical malpractice — Vicarious liability — Punitive damages — Amendment of complaint — Allegation that defendant, through its president, committed acts of intentional misconduct or gross negligence by assigning a nurse practitioner to provide after-hours care to a patient with highly complex problems that were beyond nurse practitioner’s permissible scope of practice — Trial court erred by granting plaintiff’s motion to amend complaint to assert claim for punitive damages — Plaintiff failed to demonstrate a reasonable basis for award of punitive damages based on intentional conduct where evidence was insufficient to show that defendant’s president either knew or otherwise intended for nurse practitioner to independently order medical treatment for patient outside the scope of nurse practitioner’s practice without consulting president — Furthermore, there was insufficient evidence demonstrating that defendant’s president condoned or ratified nurse practitioner’s independent treatment with actual knowledge of a high probability that doing so would result in additional harm or death to patient — Plaintiff failed to demonstrate a reasonable basis for award of punitive damages based on gross negligence where facts of case did not show that defendant, through its president or nurse practitioner, evinced a reckless or conscious disregard of or indifference to human life

48 Fla. L. Weekly D2214a HOSPITAL SPECIALISTS, P.A., Appellant, v. KATHLEEN DEEN, as personal representative of the estate of William Alvin Deen, deceased, ABDI ABBASSI, M.D. and DIGESTIVE DISEASE CONSULTANTS, LLC, a limited liability company, ET AL., Appellees. 5th District. Case No. 5D23-346. L.T. Case No. 16-2020-CA-000341. November 21, 2023. Nonfinal Appeal of Order from Read More »

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Torts — Negligent hiring — Punitive damages — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in granting motion to amend complaint to add claim for punitive damages against employer of driver who crashed company car into plaintiff’s vehicle — Proffered evidence was not sufficient to establish reasonable basis for finding that defendant was grossly negligent when it allegedly hired employee without conducting adequate pre-employment screening, obtaining a driving and criminal history, and confirming that employee held valid driver’s license — Proffered evidence was either not directly related to allegation that employer was grossly negligent or sufficiently refuted by defendant

48 Fla. L. Weekly D2225c EBSARY FOUNDATION COMPANY, Appellant, v. THOMAS C. SERVINSKY and MARIE L. SERVINSKY, Appellees. 4th District. Case No. 4D2022-1990. November 22, 2023. Appeal of a non-final order from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Martin County; Gary L. Sweet, Judge; L.T. Case No. 2019CA000951. Counsel: Charles M-P “Chip” George Read More »

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Torts — Negligent hiring — Punitive damages — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in granting motion to amend complaint to add claim for punitive damages against employer of driver who crashed company car into plaintiff’s vehicle — Proffered evidence was not sufficient to establish reasonable basis for finding that defendant was grossly negligent when it allegedly hired employee without conducting adequate pre-employment screening, obtaining a driving and criminal history, and confirming that employee held valid driver’s license — Proffered evidence was either not directly related to allegation that employer was grossly negligent or sufficiently refuted by defendant

48 Fla. L. Weekly D2225c EBSARY FOUNDATION COMPANY, Appellant, v. THOMAS C. SERVINSKY and MARIE L. SERVINSKY, Appellees. 4th District. Case No. 4D2022-1990. November 22, 2023. Appeal of a non-final order from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Martin County; Gary L. Sweet, Judge; L.T. Case No. 2019CA000951. Counsel: Charles M-P “Chip” George Read More »

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Insurance — Homeowners — Discovery — Work product — Claims files — Appeals — Certiorari — Trial court did not depart from essential requirements of the law by compelling insurer to produce documents from its claims and underwriting files — Documents in claims and underwriting files are not automatically work product — Insurer’s assertion of work-product privilege was overly broad, and insurer did not argue or prove that the requested documents were prepared in anticipation of litigation

48 Fla. L. Weekly D2218e HOMEOWNERS CHOICE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, INC., Petitioner, v. THOMAS S. THOMPSON and LISA D. THOMPSON, Respondents. 1st District. Case No. 1D2023-0970. November 22, 2023. Petition for Writ of Certiorari — Original Jurisdiction. Counsel: Curt Allen, Bryan D. Hull, and Lauren B. Yevich of Bush Ross, P.A., Tampa, for Read More »

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Torts — Premises liability — Restaurants — Slip and fall — Knowledge of dangerous condition — Evidence — Hearsay — Exceptions — Party admission — No error in entering summary judgment in favor of defendant — Trial court properly disregarded alleged oral statement of an anonymous server at the restaurant as inadmissible hearsay which could not be used to defeat motion for summary judgment based on defendant’s lack of knowledge of transitory foreign substance — While it was not necessary for plaintiff to know the name of the alleged server, the circumstantial evidence of the server’s identity as a defendant employee was insufficient where plaintiff provided only a physical description and did not attest to any characteristics such as a uniform or name tag, or what items, if any, the server was carrying to support plaintiff’s assertion that the anonymous declarant was in fact a server working for defendant

48 Fla. L. Weekly D2197a ELIZABETH SENTZ, Appellant, v. BONEFISH GRILL, LLC, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D2022-2899. November 15, 2023. Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Indian River County; Janet C. Croom, Judge; L.T. Case No. 312021CA000528. Counsel: Carlos D. Cabrera of Florida Advocates, Dania Beach, for appellant. Steven R. Read More »

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