Estate of Canavan v. NATIONAL HEALTHCARE, 2D02-2438.
| Decision Date | 23 July 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 2D02-2438.,2D02-2438. |
| Citation | 889 So.2d 825 |
| Parties | The ESTATE OF Patrick J. CANAVAN, by and through Dorothy Canavan, Person Representative, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. NATIONAL HEALTHCARE CORP. (Delaware); National Health Corp.; Southern Hospitality Developers, Inc.; Roger Friedbauer, individually; and 1620 Health Partners, L.C. (as to NHC Healthcare St. Petersburg), Appellees/Cross-Appellants. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Stuart C. Markman, Robert W. Ritsch, and Katherine Earle Yanes of Kynes, Markman & Felman, P.A., Tampa, counsel for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.
Scott A. Mager and Elaine J. LaFlamme of Mager Shafer, Ft. Lauderdale, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
The Estate of Patrick J. Canavan brought this action against Defendants Roger Friedbauer; 1620 Health Partners, L.C.; Southern Hospitality Developers, Inc.; National Healthcare Corporation; and National Health Corporation for damages Canavan suffered while residing in a nursing home known as NHC Healthcare St. Petersburg. During the jury trial, at the end of the Estate's case, the trial court granted a directed verdict in favor of Roger Friedbauer. The jury found the remaining Defendants liable for negligence and for depriving Canavan of his nursing home rights. The Estate was awarded actual damages of $500,000 and punitive damages of $250,000. On appeal, the Estate challenges the directed verdict in favor of Friedbauer and the trial court's exclusion of evidence during the punitive damages phase of the trial. We agree that both of these issues have merit, and therefore, we reverse and remand for a new trial against Friedbauer and for a redetermination of the amount of punitive damages to be awarded against two of the Defendants. We reject the arguments made by the Defendants in the cross-appeal because the issues either were not properly preserved for review or have no merit.
The evidence showed that in January 1999, Friedbauer used a limited liability company, 1620 Health Partners, L.C., to purchase NHC Healthcare St. Petersburg. The manager of 1620 Health Partners was a corporation, Southern Hospitality Developers, Inc. The only principals or shareholders of 1620 Health Partners and Southern Hospitality were Friedbauer and his wife. Southern Hospitality had no full-time employees. In granting a direct verdict in favor of Friedbauer, the trial court accepted the argument that there was no basis upon which Friedbauer could be held personally liable as a managing member of 1620 Health Partners or as an officer of Southern Hospitality. The court suggested that liability could not be imposed on Friedbauer without piercing the corporate veil.
The Estate argues that the concept of piercing the corporate veil does not apply in the case of a tort, and that it presented sufficient evidence of Friedbauer's negligence, by act or omission, for the jury to reasonably conclude that Friedbauer caused harm to Canavan. It argues that Friedbauer had the responsibility of approving the budget for the nursing home. He also functioned as the sole member of the "governing body" of the nursing home, and pursuant to federal regulation, 42 C.F.R. § 483.75(d) (2002), the governing body is legally responsible for establishing and implementing policies regarding the management and operation of the facility and for appointing the administrator who is responsible for the management of the facility. Friedbauer was thus required by federal...
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