Scheff v. Mayo
| Decision Date | 23 November 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-2207,94-2207 |
| Parties | 19 Fla. L. Weekly D2479 Harold and Sara SCHEFF, Petitioners, v. Bertha MAYO, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Matt Hellman, and Marvin P. Pastel, Plantation, for petitioners.
Malove, Kaufman & Marbin, and Michael Kaufman, Miami, for respondent.
Before LEVY, GERSTEN and GREEN, JJ.
Harold and Sara Scheff petition this court for a writ of certiorari seeking to reverse an order granting a motion for protective order pertaining to respondent Bertha Mayo's psychological records. We grant the writ and direct the trial court to allow the petitioners to obtain discovery as to the respondent's psychiatric treatment.
Respondent Bertha Mayo was involved in a rear-end motor vehicle accident with a car driven by petitioner Sara Scheff, and owned by her father, Harold Scheff. The respondent filed suit against the petitioners seeking, inter alia, damages for mental anguish.
A plaintiff who seeks mental anguish damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident has "made his post-accident mental or emotional condition an element of his negligence claim" and cannot invoke the psychotherapist-patient privilege. Arzola v. Reigosa, 534 So.2d 883 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). The respondent is not entitled to invoke the psychotherapist-patient privilege because she has placed her mental condition at issue. See Arzola v. Reigosa, 534 So.2d at 883; Yoho v. Lindsley, 248 So.2d 187 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). Therefore we grant the petition for writ of certiorari, quash the order below, and direct the trial court to permit the pretrial discovery of the respondent's psychiatric records.
Certiorari granted; order quashed.
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Johnson v. Trujillo, 98SA451
...conducted by designated agencies. See § 13-90-107(1)(d)(I)-(III). None of these exceptions are relevant here.3 See Scheff v. Mayo, 645 So.2d 181, 182 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1994) (holding that a plaintiff who seeks mental anguish damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident has made his emotio......
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Webb v. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc.
...Byxbee v. Reyes, 850 So.2d 595 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003); Partner-Brown v. Bornstein, 734 So.2d 555 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); cf. Scheff v. Mayo, 645 So.2d 181 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) (granting certiorari to quash an order denying discovery of plaintiff's psychiatric records when plaintiff sought damages f......
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Bandorf v. Volusia Dept. of Corrections
...case of a claimant in a workers' compensation case), see, e.g., Nelson v. Womble, 657 So.2d 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995), Scheff v. Mayo, 645 So.2d 181 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), Sykes v. St. Andrews School, 619 So.2d 467 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), the exception does not apply merely because symptoms the pl......
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Nelson v. Womble, 95-964
...evidence concerning that mental or emotional condition. Charles Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence Sec. 501.1 (1995 ed). In Scheff v. Mayo, 645 So.2d 181, 182 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), it was held: A plaintiff who seeks mental anguish damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident has "made his post-acc......