47 Fla. L. Weekly D1314a UNITED AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. MILLENNIUM RADIOLOGY, LLC, d/b/a MILLENNIUM OPEN MRI, a/a/o Jean DeVaughn, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-2093. L.T. Case No. 13-136 SP. June 15, 2022. An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Ayana Harris, Judge. Counsel: Michael J. Neimand, for appellant. David B. Read More »
Articles
Employer-employee relations — Employment discrimination — Ongoing verbal abuse due to sexual orientation — Retaliation — County ordinance — Trial court erred in dismissing with prejudice a former employee’s complaint against former employer alleging sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation in violation of Miami-Dade County Code on ground that ordinance did not establish a private cause of action — Plain language of amended Code provision clearly creates private cause of action — Code provision is not analogous to section 760.11(4), as it is not meant as an administrative relief scheme but as a guideline for a private individual seeking to enforce employment discrimination provisions of the Code after the Commission on Human Rights has failed to provide relief — Discussion of prior precedent in light of amendments to Code provisions
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1307a ANDRE WHITE, Appellant, v. AUTOZONE INVESTMENT CORPORATION, d/b/a AUTOZONE AUTO PARTS, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-598. L.T. Case No. 20-19278. June 15, 2022. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Lourdes Simon, Judge. Counsel: Law Offices of Levy & Levy, P.A., and Chad E. Levy (Sunrise); Diane Read More »
Torts — Negligent entrustment — Vicarious liability — Dangerous instrumentalities — Injured party is not precluded from pursuing a claim for vicarious liability against a vehicle owner under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine when a driver has weaponized the vehicle with the intent to cause bodily harm where such conduct is reasonably foreseeable — Trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of owner of vehicle where there was ample evidence of foreseeability — Statutes precluding criminal defendant from denying essential allegations in related civil trial do not operate defensively to prevent plaintiff in a civil suit from arguing his injuries were result of negligence or advancing any other factual theory drawing support from the evidence — Extensive discussion of dangerous instrumentality doctrine in this context — Trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of vehicle owner on negligent entrustment claim — Law allows promulgation of alternative theories of recovery, and any potential prejudice stemming from negligent entrustment claim may be mitigated by incorporating appropriate procedural safeguards to ensure that driver’s past driving record is excluded from jury’s determination of driver’s negligence, but included in jury’s determination of vehicle owner’s culpability for negligent entrustment
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1304a ARTHUR SAGER, Appellant, v. MADALINA BLANCO and RICARDO F. BLANCO, Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D20-1194. L.T. Case No. 15-641-K. June 15, 2022. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Timothy J. Koenig, Judge. Counsel: Robert C. Tilghman, P.A., and Robert C. Tilghman, Nathan E. Eden, P.A., and Read More »
Insurance — Homeowners — Assignment of benefits — No error in determining that assignment of benefits did not comply with statutory requirements where assignee did not provide insured with a written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed at time of the assignment’s execution
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1295b THE KIDWELL GROUP, LLC, d/b/a AIR QUALITY ASSESSORS OF FLORIDA a/a/o BEN KIVOVITZ, Appellant, v. UNITED PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D21-2843. June 15, 2022. Appeal from the County Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Sandra Bosso-Pardo, Judge; L.T. Case No. 50-2021-SC-001729-MB. Read More »
Insurance — Post-loss obligation — Failure to comply — Prejudice — “Suit Against Us” provision of policy does not trump policy’s own requirement that insured’s noncompliance be prejudicial to the insurer
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1295a SHARON GODFREY, Appellant, v. PEOPLE’S TRUST INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D21-901. June 15, 2022. Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; William Haury, Jr., Judge; L.T. Case No. CACE18-024020. Counsel: Jose P. Font and Christopher Herrera of Font & Nelson, PLLC, Fort Read More »