Jaimot v. Media Leasing Corp., A-C
| Decision Date | 20 September 1984 |
| Docket Number | A-C,No. 84-231,84-231 |
| Citation | 457 So.2d 529 |
| Parties | Pedro JAIMOT and Angel Sanchez, Petitioners, v. MEDIA LEASING CORP., d/b/a Holiday Rent-ar, et al., Respondents. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Eli H. Subin and John M. Brennan of Subin, Shams, Rosebluth & Moran, P.A., Orlando, for petitioners.
Lawrence D. Johnson of Peacock & Johnson, P.A., Orlando, for respondents.
The third party defendants herein, Jaimot and Sanchez, have petitioned for certiorari review of the trial court's denial of their motion to strike a punitive damage claim against them for an alleged breach of contract. Fulminating language in a complaint characterizing a contract breach as "willful, wanton, outrageous, malicious," ad nauseum does not establish an independent tort that will support a punitive damage action. Grossman Holdings Ltd. v. Hourihan, 414 So.2d 1037 (Fla.1982), Nicholas v. Miami Burglar Alarm Co., Inc., 339 So.2d 175 (Fla.1976), Haendel v. Paterno, 388 So.2d 235 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980).
Since a punitive damage claim can serve as the basis for an inquiry into a defendant's net worth, an otherwise private matter, the trial court's failure to strike the invalid punitive damage claim is a departure from essential requirements of law giving rise to an irreparable injury. Accordingly, we grant certiorari review and quash the order of the trial court in that regard.
I dissent because I think the complaint in this case sufficiently states misrepresentation or fraud as a component of the breach of contract action. In Count I, appellees alleged that appellants represented they would fulfill appellee's obligations to Ford Motor Credit Company, that they knew appellees would rely thereon to their detriment, and that the representations were false, made in bad faith, and/or that their conduct was grossly negligent. In my view these allegations are indistinguishable from those in Griffith v. Shamrock Village, Inc., 94 So.2d 854 (Fla.1957), wherein the Florida Supreme Court held punitive damages would lie for the gross neglect of a contractual duty owed to another party sufficient to constitute an independent tort. See also Grossman Holdings Ltd. v. Hourihan, 414 So.2d 1037 (Fla.1982).
Further, the failure of the trial court to strike the punitive damage claim is clearly an interlocutory matter, which...
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Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage
...decisions of the Fifth District in Sunrise Olds-Toyota, Inc. v. Monroe, 476 So.2d 240 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985), and Jaimot v. Media Leasing Corp., 457 So.2d 529 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. In these cases, the district courts reached conflicting decisions as......
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...This court took the position in Sunrise Olds-Toyota, Inc. v. Monroe, 476 So.2d 240 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985), and Jaimot v. Media Leasing Corp., 457 So.2d 529 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984), that since it is improper to expose a defendant to the discovery of his financial worth, an otherwise private matter,......
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Club Eden Roc, Inc. v. Fortune Cookie Restaurant, Inc.
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Martin-Johnson, Inc. v. Savage, MARTIN-JOHNSO
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