Miller v. Bill Rivers Trailers, Inc.

Decision Date23 May 1984
Docket NumberNo. AU-322,AU-322
Citation450 So.2d 334
PartiesRobert J. MILLER, Appellant, v. BILL RIVERS TRAILERS, INC., and Bill Rivers Corp., Appellees.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

Dennis Lanahan, Jacksonville, for appellant.

Douglass E. Myers, Jr., of Smith & Myers, Jacksonville, for appellees.

WENTWORTH, Judge.

Appellant seeks review of an order by which its complaint against appellee was dismissed with prejudice as "insufficient to state a cause of action." We find that the complaint contains allegations of a contractual breach which are sufficient to permit recovery, and we therefore reverse the order appealed.

Appellant's complaint alleges that he was requested by appellee to act as sales manager and that he was promised a commission for sales orders which he secured. The complaint further alleges that appellant did secure sales orders, but that appellee refuses to pay the promised commissions. The complaint does not allege any specific amount as, or computational method for determining, the appropriate commission, or that the parties ever reached agreement in regard thereto. But if appellee desires a more specific allegation of damages, such relief may be obtained by a Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.140(e) motion for a more definite statement. See Augustine v. Southern Bell, Telephone & Telegraph Co., 91 So.2d 320 (Fla.1956); Arcade Steam Laundry v. Bass, 159 So.2d 915 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964). And to the extent that the parties may have failed to reach full agreement as to the compensation for appellant's services, recovery might nevertheless still be had "on the basis of quantum meruit, that is, the reasonable worth of the services ...." Moncrief v. Hall, 63 So.2d 640 (Fla.1953); see generally, Symon v. J. Rolfe Davis Inc., 245 So.2d 278 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). Appellant's failure to specify quantum meruit as a basis of recovery does not preclude such relief.

Accordingly, the order appealed is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings.

ERVIN and BOOTH, JJ., concur.

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3 cases
  • Townsend Contracting v. JENSEN CIV. CONST.
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • February 18, 1999
    ...for recovery under doctrine of quantum meruit, plaintiff was required to show that services were performed); Miller v. Bill Rivers Trailers, Inc., 450 So.2d 334 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). To satisfy the elements of quantum meruit, a plaintiff must allege facts that, taken as true, show that the p......
  • Bill Rivers Trailers, Inc. v. Miller
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • April 9, 1986
    ...with prejudice, as "insufficient to state a cause of action." The dismissal was reversed by this court in Miller v. Bill Rivers Trailers, Inc., 450 So.2d 334 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984), with the explanation that although Miller's complaint did not allege a specific amount or method of determining ......
  • Barnett & Clark, P.A. v. Symons
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • June 13, 1989
    ...Prods. v. Wessel Co., 123 Fla. 120, 166 So. 306 (1936); Hazen v. Cobb, 96 Fla. 151, 117 So. 853 (1928); Miller v. Bill Rivers Trailers, Inc., 450 So.2d 334 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); L.C. Morris, Inc. v. Allison, 309 So.2d 9, 10 (Fla. 3d DCA ...

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