Cabinet Craft, Inc. v. A. G. Spanos Enterprises, Inc., 76-1994
| Decision Date | 22 July 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 76-1994,76-1994 |
| Citation | 348 So.2d 920 |
| Parties | CABINET CRAFT, INC., Appellant, v. A. G. SPANOS ENTERPRISES, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Peter N. Meros, Meros, Coit, Wells, Edman & Meros, P. A., St. Petersburg, for appellant.
Ray J. Peacock, Goza, Hall, Peacock & Peters, P. A., Clearwater, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a summary judgment dismissing a suit on grounds of res judicata and collateral estoppel.
Appellee (Spanos) entered into two contracts with appellant (Cabinet Craft) whereby Cabinet Craft would supply labor and materials for the installation of cabinets in two projects being built by Spanos. The projects were partially completed when the parties became involved in a dispute. Thereafter, Spanos sued Cabinet Craft for breach of contract for failure to furnish and install all the cabinets and claimed damages for delay in the completion of the projects.
Cabinet Craft filed a counterclaim asserting that it was really Spanos which had breached the contracts. Cabinet Craft alleged that during the course of construction Spanos announced that the projects were going to be closed down for three months. Cabinet Craft then notified Spanos that performance could not be stopped under the contract because this would put Cabinet Craft out of business. Spanos then advised Cabinet Craft that it would continue to perform under the contract only if Cabinet Craft would agree to substantially reduce the number of cabinets to be installed. Cabinet Craft stated that it declined to agree to this modification and was forced to withdraw from the job. According to Cabinet Craft the loss of these contracts forced it out of business. Cabinet Craft claimed loss of future profits under the contracts as well as payment for materials previously furnished before the contracts were terminated.
Prior to trial, Cabinet Craft's answer and counterclaim were dismissed pursuant to Section 607.357(6), Florida Statutes (1976), because Cabinet Craft, Inc. had been dissolved for failure to file its annual reports with the State of Florida and to pay its annual stock taxes. Spanos' cause of action was then tried before the court without a jury. The court found that the parties had mutually agreed to terminate the contracts and entered a final judgment against the claims of Spanos. Cabinet Craft subsequently obtained the reinstatement of its corporate status and moved for rehearing of the order which had stricken its pleadings. In its order denying the motion for rehearing the court stated that Cabinet Craft's pleadings had been stricken to avoid penalizing Spanos by delaying the trial because of Cabinet Craft's noncompliance with the Florida Corporation Law. The court pointed out that Cabinet Craft had been put on notice by Spanos' pleadings which denied that Cabinet Craft was qualified to do business in the state. 1 Cf. Marinelli v. Weaver, 208 So.2d 489 (Fla.2d DCA 1968). No appeal was taken in the case by either party.
Thereafter, Cabinet Craft filed a new action against Spanos. The allegations of the complaint were essentially the same as those of the counterclaim in the previous suit. Spanos obtained a summary judgment on the premise that since the previous suit involved the same issues, Cabinet Craft's claims were barred by res judicata and estoppel by judgment.
In Donahue v. Davis, 68 So.2d 163 (Fla.1953), our Supreme Court said:
"The rule is well settled that in order to make a matter res judicata four conditions must concur, namely: (1) Identity in the thing sued for; (2) identity of the cause of action; (3) identity of persons and parties to the action, and (4) identity of the quality in the person for or against whom the claim is made. . . . " Each of these four conditions existed in the instant case. However, as a general rule, a judgment entered upon any grounds which do not involve the merits of the action may not be used as the basis for the application of res judicata. Kent v. Sutker, 40 So.2d 145 (Fla.1949). Thus, the court in Kent said:
" . . . Under this rule, an adjudication on grounds purely technical, where the merits cannot come into question, is limited to the point actually decided, and does not preclude the maintenance of a subsequent action brought in a way to avoid the objection which proved fatal in the first action. . . . "
The answer to the question of whether a previous action has been adjudicated upon the merits for purposes of...
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In re Nourbakhsh
...of res judicata, a judgment entered upon default is just as conclusive as one which was hotly contested." Cabinet Craft, Inc. v. A.G. Spanos, 348 So.2d 920, 922 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1977); see also, Martino v. Florida Ins. Guaranty Assoc., 383 So.2d 942, 944 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1980). Based upon t......
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In re Residential Capital, LLC
...Bay Fin. Sav. Bank, F.S.B. v. Hook, 648 So.2d 305, 307 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1995); see also Cabinet Craft, Inc. v. A.G. Spanos Enters., Inc., 348 So.2d 920, 922 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1977) (“[A] judgment entered upon default is just as conclusive as one which was hotly contested.”). Res judicata wil......
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...is just as conclusive as one which was hotly contested and is not amenable to collateral attack. Cabinet Craft, Inc. v. A.G. Spanos Enterprises, Inc., 348 So.2d 920 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); Ennis v. Giblin, 147 Fla. 113, 2 So.2d 382 (1941). See In re Marsowicz, 120 B.R. 602 The defendant here ha......
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...judicata, a judgment entered upon default is just as conclusive as one which was hotly contested." Cabinet Craft, Inc. v. A.G. Spanos Enterprises, Inc., 348 So.2d 920 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1977). Applying these two principles to the facts before this Court would be straightforward. By entering t......