Dania Jai Alai Intern., Inc. v. Murua, 79-450

• Decision Date: 26 September 1979
• Docket Number: No. 79-450,79-450
• Citation: 375 So.2d 57
• Parties: DANIA JAI ALAI INTERNATIONAL, INC., a Florida Corporation, Appellant, v. Luis MURUA, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 57

375 So.2d 57

DANIA JAI ALAI INTERNATIONAL, INC., a Florida Corporation, Appellant, v. Luis MURUA, Appellee.

No. 79-450.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Sept. 26, 1979.

Wm. R. Dawes of Bailey & Dawes, Miami, for appellant.

Ronald C. Dresnick of Dresnick & Freeman, Miami, for appellee.

BERANEK, Judge.

This is an interlocutory appeal by the defendant from the trial court's grant of plaintiff's request for a temporary mandatory injunction. Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging he was a professional athlete employed to play jai alai at the defendant's fronton, Dania Jai Alai International. He alleged his employment contract had been breached in that he had been fired without just cause. He further alleged that as a result of the firing he was unable to find employment because all other jai alai frontons in the country had already hired their players for the season. He also asserted he was facing deportation to his home country, Spain, because employment was a condition of his visa in the United States.

A hearing on his request for a temporary mandatory injunction occurred at which only he testified. The trial court granted a mandatory injunction and ordered his immediate reinstatement with back pay. We reverse.

State, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. Artis, 345 So.2d 1109 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), states the essential criteria for a temporary mandatory injunction as (1) irreparable harm, (2) a clear legal right, (3) an inadequate remedy at law, and (4) consideration of public interest. Generally, a temporary injunction is an extraordinary remedy and will be granted sparingly only after the moving party has alleged and proven facts entitling it to relief. Jennings v. Perrine Fish Market, Inc., 360 So.2d 434 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). In State, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. Artis, supra, this court held that mere loss of income does not constitute irreparable injury. In Butler v. Lomelo, 355 So.2d 1208 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), we held that loss of employment is not a sufficient predicate for injunctive relief. Generally, breach of an employment contract gives rise to a cause of action for damages for breach of the contract. It is only in exceptional circumstances that equity will intervene to force reinstatement of the employee prior to a decision on the merits of the contract dispute. We conclude that such circumstances are not presented here.

A great deal of argument has been made on appeal about professional athletes and their desires and aspirations to continue their rise to superstardom in the athletic world. We are advised in appellee's brief of many considerations applicable to professional athletes such as the nature of jai alai and necessity for playing in every season. We recognize that damages sustained by professional...