Florida Farm Bureau Ins. Co. v. Government Employees Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 28 August 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 57036,57036 |
| Citation | 387 So.2d 932 |
| Parties | FLORIDA FARM BUREAU INSURANCE COMPANY, Petitioner, v. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, etc. et al., Respondents. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Robert K. Rouse, Jr. of Smalbein, Eubank, Johnson, Rosier & Bussey, Daytona Beach, for petitioner.
Richard A. Simon and Ronald L. Harrop of Gurney, Gurney & Handley, Orlando, and Frank M. Gafford, Lake City, for respondents.
Marion R. Shepard of Mathews, Osborne, Ehrlich, McNatt, Gobelman & Cobb, Jacksonville, for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company; and Larry Klein, West Palm Beach, for the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, amici curiae.
This cause is before us on petition for writ of certiorari to review the decision of the District Court of Appeal, First District, in Florida Farm Bureau Ins. Co. v. Government Employees Ins. Co., 371 So.2d 166 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). Not only has the district court certified the question involved in this cause as being of great public interest, but its decision also has created conflict with our decisions in Reid v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., 352 So.2d 1172 (Fla.1977), and Shor v. Paoli, 353 So.2d 825 (Fla.1977). We adhere to our decisions in Shor v. Paoli and Reid v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. and again hold that a joint tortfeasor may seek and obtain a judgment for contribution from another joint tortfeasor even when that other tortfeasor is the spouse of the injured plaintiff who recovered damages from the first tortfeasor and that, in the absence of statutory prohibition, provisions of automobile liability insurance policies excluding from coverage members of the insured's family or household are valid. We quash that part of the district court's decision which holds family exclusion clauses to be invalid in contribution cases, and we reverse the contribution judgment entered by the trial court against Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Company.
The facts are undisputed. In July, 1976, Lance Cunningham and Cammie Deese were involved in a two-car collision. Myrtis Deese, Cammie's wife, who was injured in the accident, sued Lance Cunningham, M. A. Cunningham, the owner of the car which Lance was driving, and Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), the Cunninghams' insurer. The Cunninghams and GEICO counterclaimed against Cammie Deese and his insurer, Farm Bureau, for contribution. The jury found Lance Cunningham ninety percent negligent and Cammie Deese ten percent negligent, and it awarded damages in the amount of $25,000 to Myrtis Deese. The Cunninghams and GEICO again moved for contribution against Cammie Deese and Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau denied liability, but Deese contended that if he was liable, his liability insurer, Farm Bureau, was also liable. The trial court granted the motion for contribution against Deese and Farm Bureau and entered final judgment against both.
The district court affirmed the trial court's granting of Cunningham's and GEICO's contribution claim against Farm Bureau and held that family exclusion clauses within the context of contribution claims are contrary to public policy. It then framed the following question for our disposition:
Does a family exclusion clause in an automobile liability insurance policy control over the uniform contribution among tortfeasors act to prevent one tortfeasor from seeking contribution from another tortfeasor when the other tortfeasor is the spouse of the injured person who has received damages from the first tortfeasor?
This question, however, is not the real issue in this cause. The question posed by the district court is essentially answered in Shor v. Paoli wherein we held that one tortfeasor may seek contribution from another tortfeasor when the other tortfeasor is the spouse of the injured person who has received damages from the first tortfeasor. Whether there is insurance coverage or whether the contract of insurance contains a family exclusion clause is immaterial to the disposition of this primary question. Therefore, regardless of its...
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