Fontainebleau Hotel Corp. v. Postol
| Citation | 142 So.2d 299 |
| Parties | FONTAINEBLEAU HOTEL CORPORATION, a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. Joseph M.POSTOL, Appellee. no. 61-478. |
| Decision Date | 19 June 1962 |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Florida (US) |
Meltzer & Nesbitt and Murray Goldman, Miami, for appellant.
Papy, Talburt & Carruthers, Miami, for appellee.
Before PEARSON, TILLMAN, C. J., and HORTON and BARKDULL, JJ.
The appellant seeks review of an order granting judgment for $1,000 in attorney's fees to the appellee.
The appellee entrusted his automobile to his wife, who drove to the appellant's hotel and, for a money consideration, turned it over to appellant's employee to be parked While attempting to park the car, the employee was involved in an accident which resulted in personal injuries to Benjamin Ragin. Ragin brought a negligence action naming appellant and appellee as parties defendant. The appellee filed a cross-claim seeking to recover from the appellant the exact amount of damages he might suffer as a result of the action. At the trial, appellant and appellee stipulated that a bailment-for-hire existed between them; that the appellant was the sole wrongdoer, and appellee was liable vicariously, if at all: and that in the event Ragin received a judg ment against the appellee, appellee was en titled to a judgment against the appellant in like amount. There was no agreement or stipulation between the parties relative to attorney's fees, nor are such fees authorized by statute in this case. ragin recovered a verdict for $6,037 which was satisfied by the appellant. Subsequently, the trial court entered the order appealed granting judgment in favor of the appellee against the appellant for $1,000 in attorney's fees in defending the action.
The determinative question here is whether a bailee-for-hire, whose negligent operation of an automobile results in an action being brought by a third party against the bailor, should by required to indemnify the bailor for attorney's fees expended in defense of the action.
The appellant urges the applicability bility to this case of the rule that attorney's fees cannot be charged in the absence of statutory authority, unless the defendant is bound for their payment by contract. Ginsberg v. Ginsberg, Fla.App. 1961, 128 So.2d 435; Thibert v. Thibert, Fla.App.1958 106 So.2d 918; Dorner v. Red Top Cab & Daggage Co., 160 Fla. 882, 37 So.2d 160; Brite v. Orange Belt Securities Co., 133 Fla. 266, 182 So. 892. The situation involved in the...
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...to a third party”); Jemco, Inc. v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 400 So.2d 499, 502 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (citing Fontainebleau Hotel Corp. v. Postol, 142 So.2d 299, 300 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962)). Indemnification serves the purpose of holding the indemnified party harmless by shifting the entire loss o......
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...Maze, 339 So.2d 202 (Fla.1976); Rivera v. Deauville Hotel, Employers Service Corp., 277 So.2d 265 (Fla.1973); Fountainbleau Hotel Corp. v. Postol, 142 So.2d 299 (Fla.3d DCA 1962). Since no contract or statute provided for attorneys' fees to be awarded to Martha Geier, and since this action ......
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