Garcia v. Vanguard Car Rental Usa, Inc.
| Decision Date | 05 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 5:06-cv-220-Oc-10GRJ.,5:06-cv-220-Oc-10GRJ. |
| Citation | 510 F.Supp.2d 821 |
| Parties | Maria D. GARCIA, as surviving spouse, as Administrator and Personal Representative of the Estate of Jose Garcia and on behalf of her minor children Gabriela Garcia and Luis Garcia, Plaintiff, v. VANGUARD CAR RENTAL USA, INC., a Delaware corporation, Vanguard Rental (Belgium) Inc., a Florida corporation, National Rental (US), Inc., a Delaware corporation f/k/a National Car Rental, Alamo Financing, L.P., a foreign limited partnership, Alamo Renta-Car (Canada) Inc., a Florida corporation, Gregory Davis, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
Andre M. Mura, John Vail, Washington, DC, Richard Summers, Richard W. Summers, P.C., Atlanta, GA, Vincent M. D'Assaro, Morgan & Morgan, P.A., Anthony J. Petrillo, Tampa, FL, Matthew John Jowanna, Matthew J. Jowanna, P.A., Wesley Chapel, FL, for Plaintiff.
James Paul Waczewski, Joseph F. Scarpa, Jr., Luks, Santaniello, Perez, Petrillo & Gold, Orlando, FL, for Defendants.
Daniel J. Santaniello, Luks Santaniello Perez Petrillo & Gold, Jacksonville, FL, for Plaintiff/Defendants.
Paul S. Jones, Luks, Santaniello, Perez, Petrillo & Gold, Orlando, FL, for Plaintiff/Defendants.
WM. TERRELL HODGES, District Judge.
On August 10, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users ("SAFETEALU"), Pub.L. No. 109-59, 119 Stat. 1144. Included in this law are provisions codified at 49 U.S.C. § 30106 (the "Graves Amendment") which expressly preempt all state vicarious liability schemes that impose liability on lessors of motor vehicles where the vehicle is involved in an accident through no fault of the lessor. The application of this recently-enacted law is at the heart of this and two other related lawsuits pending in this Court, all three of which revolve around a car accident that occurred in Marion County, Florida, on February 2, 2005.
These three related cases are now before the Court for consideration of Defendants Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc., Vanguard Rental (Belgium) Inc., National Rental (US) Inc., Alamo Financing, L.P., and Alamo Rent-A-Car (Canada) Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 26).1 These Defendants contend that the Graves Amendment preempts all of the Plaintiff's' state law claims against them which are premised on a theory of vicarious liability. The Plaintiff's have filed a response in opposition (Doc. 31), and the motion is ripe for disposition. For the reasons discussed below, the Court finds that the Lessor Defendants' motion is due to be granted.
The relevant facts are not in dispute. Defendants Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc., National Rental (US), Inc., and Alamo Financing, L.P., (collectively the "Lessor Defendants"), are in the business of renting automobile vehicles to customers on a short term basis of less than one year.2 On February 2, 2005, Defendant Gregory Davis rented a Dodge Stratus from the Lessor Defendants in Orlando, Florida and began driving to Georgia. While traveling through Marion County, Florida, Davis was involved in a three-car accident. As a result of the accident, the driver and front-seat passenger of one of the other vehicles — Jose Garcia and Nelson Agustin Ruiz — were killed, and the back seat passenger — Israel Lopez — suffered serious injuries. It is alleged that Davis caused the accident, and the Lessor Defendants do not challenge this theory. However, all Parties agree that the Lessor Defendants were neither negligent nor engaged in any criminal wrongdoing which contributed to the accident.
As a result of this tragic accident, three separate lawsuits are now pending in this Court. The first is this case, a wrongful death lawsuit filed on May 26, 2006 by Plaintiff Maria D. Garcia, as the surviving spouse and personal representative of the Estate of Jose Garcia, and on behalf of her minor children, Gabriela Garcia and Luis Garcia. (Doc. 2). The Plaintiff originally filed this case against all of the Defendants in the Circuit Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, in and for Marion County, Florida. The Defendants removed the case to this Court on June 29, 2006 on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. The Plaintiff moved to remand (Doc. 11), but the Court denied that motion on December 27, 2006 (Doc. 32).
The second case is a wrongful death lawsuit against the same Defendants filed by Plaintiff's Santos Ruiz and Agripina Borjas Miralda, individually, and Santos Ruiz as administrator and personal representative of the Estate of Nelson Ruiz and as legal guardian of Nelson Xavier Ruiz. See Ruiz v. Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc., et al., Case No. 5:06-cv-221-Oc-10GRJ (Doc. 2). The Ruiz Plaintiff's also filed their case in the Circuit Court of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, in and for Marion County, Florida, and the Defendants removed the case to this Court on June 29, 2006. The Court denied the Ruiz Plaintiff's' motion to remand on December 27, 2006.3
The third, and oldest case is a declaratory judgment action filed by the Lessor Defendants against the Garcia and Ruiz Plaintiff's, as well as Israel Lopez, on October 7, 2005. See Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc. et al. v. Maria Garcia, et al., Case No. 5:05-422-Oc-1OGRJ (Doc. 1). In the declaratory judgment action, the Lessor Defendants seek a ruling from the Court that the Graves Amendment preempts all State laws, including Florida's, which impose vicarious liability on the lessor of a motor vehicle where the lessor is not negligent or criminally liable for any injuries or damages. The Lessor Defendants seek a ruling that they cannot be held vicariously liable for any damages or injuries resulting from the February 2, 2005 accident involving Garcia, Ruiz, and Lopez.4
On November 1, 2006, the Magistrate Judge entered an Order consolidating all three related cases for purposes of pre-trial proceedings, and directed that all further filings be made in the Garcia case. (Doc. 22). The Order also permitted the Lessor Defendants to file in this case a single motion for summary judgment focused on the question of whether the Graves Amendment preempts the Garcia and Ruiz claims. The Lessor Defendants did so on November 13, 2006 (Doc. 26), and the Garcia and Ruiz Plaintiff's filed their joint memorandum in opposition on December 4, 2006 (Doc. 31). The Parties agree that resolution of this motion in favor of the Lessor Defendants would resolve all claims against the Lessor Defendants in the Garcia and Ruiz cases, and would also resolve the declaratory judgment action.
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c), the entry of summary judgment is appropriate only when the Court is satisfied that "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." In applying this standard, the Court must examine the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with any affidavits and other evidence in the record "in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Samples on Behalf of Samples v. Atlanta, 846 F.2d 1328, 1330 (11th Cir. 1988). As the Supreme Court held in Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986), the moving party bears the initial burden of establishing the nonexistence of a triable issue of fact. If the movant is successful on this score, the burden of production shifts to the non-moving party who must then come forward with "sufficient evidence of every element that he or she must prove." Rollins v. TechSouth, 833 F.2d 1525, 1528 (11th Cir.1987). The non-moving party may not simply rest on the pleadings, but must use affidavits, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or other admissible evidence to demonstrate that a material fact issue remains to be tried.
The first question involves application of the Graves Amendment to Florida law. There appears to be agreement that the Graves Amendment preempts Florida's common law vicarious liability scheme as it pertains to lessors of motor vehicles. The dispute is whether Florida Statute § 324.021(9)(b)(2), establishing damages caps on such vicarious liability claims, creates a separate and distinct cause of action against lessors of motor vehicles which is not preempted by the Graves Amendment.
The second question is whether the Graves Amendment is a constitutional exercise of Congress' preemptive powers under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, Article I, § 8. The only parties challenging this statute's constitutionality are the Garcia and Ruiz Plaintiff's. The constitutional issue arises in the event the Court first determines that the Graves Amendment preempts all of the Plaintiff's' claims against the Lessor Defendants.
In their motion for summary judgment, the Lessor Defendants argue that Florida Statute § 324.021(9)(b)(2) merely sets forth caps on damages for which a lessor of motor vehicles could be held vicariously liable under Florida law. Because the Graves Amendment preempts such vicarious liability claims, it must necessarily also preempt any statutes setting damages caps on such claims. The Plaintiff's, however, argue that the Graves Amendment does not erase the Lessor Defendants' liability, because Fla. Stat. § 324.021(9)(b)(2) is really a "financial responsibility law" that creates a separate cause of action against lessors of motor vehicles. As such, the statute is expressly exempted from the Graves Amendments' preemption provisions.
In order to address this question, a brief discussion is appropriate concerning the history and purpose behind Florida's vicarious liability scheme as applied against lessors of motor vehicles.
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