Montejo v. Martin Memorial Medical Center, 4D05-652.

• Decision Date: 23 August 2006
• Docket Number: No. 4D05-652.,4D05-652.
• Citation: 935 So.2d 1266
• Parties: Montejo Gaspar MONTEJO, as Guardian of the person of Luis Alberto Jimenez, Appellant, v. MARTIN MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC., Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

935 So.2d 1266

Montejo Gaspar MONTEJO, as Guardian of the person of Luis Alberto Jimenez, Appellant, v. MARTIN MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC., Appellee.

No. 4D05-652.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

August 23, 2006.

Jack Scarola and Jack P. Hill of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Brenda J. Carter, Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Scott H. Michaud and K. Calvin Asrani of Michaud, Mittelmark & Antonacci, P.A., Boca Raton, for appellee.

STEVENSON, C.J.

Montejo Gaspar Montejo, the guardian of Luis Alberto Jimenez, appeals an order dismissing with prejudice his false imprisonment claim against Martin Memorial Medical Center, Inc. Because Martin Memorial was not cloaked with absolute immunity from civil liability when acting pursuant to a void court order, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand for further proceedings.

In February 2000, Luis Alberto Jimenez, an undocumented native of Guatemala who was living and working in Florida, sustained brain damage and severe physical injuries as a consequence of a car crash. Jimenez was transported to Martin Memorial Medical Center and remained there until June 2000, when he was transferred to a skilled nursing facility. The injuries suffered by Jimenez rendered him incompetent and a circuit court judge appointed Montejo guardian of Jimenez's person and property.

On January 26, 2001, Jimenez was readmitted to Martin Memorial on an emergency basis and, as of November 2001, was still incapacitated and still receiving medical care at Martin Memorial. Around this time, Montejo filed a guardianship plan, indicating Jimenez would require twenty-four hour care at a hospital or skilled care facility for the next twelve months. As the costs of Jimenez's medical care were mounting, Jimenez was indigent, and Medicaid had refused to pay because he was an illegal alien, Martin Memorial intervened in the guardianship proceedings. In its petition, Martin Memorial claimed the guardian had failed to ensure Jimenez was in the best facility to meet his medical needs and the hospital was not the appropriate facility to provide the long-term rehabilitative care required. Martin Memorial sought permission to discharge Jimenez and have him transported to Guatemala for further care. Pursuant to federal law, in order to discharge Jimenez, Martin Memorial was required to demonstrate appropriate medical care was available. On June 27, 2003, following a hearing, the circuit court granted Martin Memorial's petition, directing the guardian to refrain from frustrating the hospital's plan to relocate Jimenez to Guatemala and authorizing the hospital to provide, at its own expense, "a suitable escort with the necessary medical support for the Ward's trip back to Guatemala."¹

On July 9, 2003, the same day that his motion for rehearing was denied, Montejo filed a notice of appeal directed to the circuit court's order. At the same time that he filed the notice of appeal, Montejo filed a motion to stay the court's June 27, 2003 order. According to Montejo, although the circuit court ordered Martin Memorial to file a response to the motion to stay by 10:00 a.m. the following day, sometime before 7:00 a.m., the hospital took Jimenez to the airport via ambulance and transported him by private plane to Guatemala.

In an opinion issued on May 5, 2004, this court reversed the order that had "authorized" Martin Memorial to transport Jimenez to Guatemala. See Montejo v. Martin Mem'l Med. Ctr., Inc., 874 So.2d 654 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). In the opinion's final paragraph, the panel wrote that it was reversing not only because there was insufficient evidence that Jimenez could receive adequate care in Guatemala, but also because "the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to authorize the transportation (deportation) of Jimenez to Guatemala." 874 So.2d at 658.

In September 2004, Montejo filed a lawsuit, alleging Martin Memorial's confining Jimenez in the ambulance and on the airplane amounted to false imprisonment and seeking damages for the same. Martin Memorial filed a motion to dismiss or for judgment on the pleadings, arguing (1) that Montejo lacked standing and (2) that Montejo had not and could not state a cause of action because he had not and could not demonstrate the detention was unreasonable and unwarranted—a necessary element of a claim for false imprisonment. With regard to the latter argument, Martin Memorial insisted the detention could not be unreasonable and unwarranted because its transporting Jimenez to Guatemala was done pursuant to a then-valid court order and, as such, its actions were afforded immunity. Following a hearing, the trial court granted Martin Memorial's motion and dismissed Montejo's false imprisonment suit with prejudice. This appeal arises from that order of dismissal.

Montejo insists the dismissal of his false imprisonment claim cannot be sustained upon either the theory that he lacked standing or that he had not and could not state a cause of action because Martin Memorial's actions were somehow cloaked with immunity. To begin, we find Montejo had standing to bring the false imprisonment claim and reject without further comment Martin Memorial's arguments to the contrary.

This, then, brings us to the matter of whether Martin Memorial's transporting Jimenez to Guatemala could provide the foundation for a false imprisonment claim despite the fact that such actions were taken in reliance upon the circuit court's June 27, 2003 order. The question we must decide is whether a litigant is entitled to "immunity" from a false imprisonment claim for actions taken in reliance upon an order that is later determined to have been entered in the absence of subject matter jurisdiction. We conclude that, under existing Florida law, the answer is no and that the cause of action in the instant case may proceed.

The elements of a cause of action for false imprisonment have been stated in various ways by Florida courts, but, essentially, all have agreed that the elements include: 1) the unlawful detention and deprivation of liberty of a person 2) against that person's will 3) without legal authority or "color of authority" and 4) which is unreasonable and unwarranted under the circumstances. See Johnson v. Weiner, 155 Fla. 169, 19 So.2d 699, 700 (1944); Jackson v. Navarro, 665 So.2d 340, 341 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Everett v. Fla. Inst. of Tech., 503 So.2d 1382, 1383 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Kanner v. First Nat'l Bank of S. Miami, 287 So.2d 715, 717 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). In Johnson, the Florida Supreme Court stated that the element of legal authority may be demonstrated by irregular or voidable process, but "`[v]oid process will not constitute legal authority within this rule.'" 19 So.2d at 700 (emphasis added) (quoting S.H. Kress & Co. v. Powell, 132 Fla. 471, 180 So. 757, 762 (1938)) (other citation omitted). It is equally clear that Florida law holds that an order entered in the absence of subject matter jurisdiction is void. See, e.g., Cesaire v. State, 811 So.2d 816, 817 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). In the prior opinion in this case, this court held that the circuit court judge lacked subject matter jurisdiction to authorize the hospital to transport Jimenez to Guatemala. See 874 So.2d at 658.

Initially, Martin Memorial contends that Montejo cannot state a cause of action for false imprisonment because the alleged confinement in the ambulance and plane was performed in furtherance of a court order and "is protected by the absolute immunity related to judicial proceedings." In support of this argument, Martin Memorial cites Levin, Middlebrooks, Mabie, Thomas, Mayes & Mitchell, P.A. v. United States Fire Insurance Co., 639 So.2d 606 (Fla.1994), and American National Title & Escrow of Florida, Inc. v. Guarantee Title & Trust Co., 748 So.2d 1054 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). In Levin, the insurer represented to the court that one of the firm's attorneys would be called as a witness in the bad faith litigation; as a result, the firm was disqualified from the representation. When the insurer failed to follow through, the firm filed a claim for tortious interference with a business relationship. The insurer insisted the claim was barred by the litigation privilege. The Florida Supreme Court agreed, writing that "absolute immunity must be afforded to any act occurring during the course of a judicial proceeding . . . so long as the act has some relation to the proceeding." 639 So.2d at 608.

In American National Title & Escrow, a law firm representing two title insurers obtained a temporary injunction and an order appointing a receiver and was sued for abuse of process related to the court-appointed receiver's entry into the business offices and the president's home to obtain records. This court affirmed the trial court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the law firm because the misconduct alleged was done "pursuant to the receivership" and was therefore protected by the absolute immunity afforded conduct related to judicial proceedings. 748 So.2d at 1056. This court stated:

Appellants' argument that Levin should be limited to publications or communications during litigation has no merit. Prior to Levin, the court had already decided that statements amounting to perjury, libel, slander, and defamation were not actionable. The essence of Levin was its extension of absolute immunity to acts taken during the proceeding, not just statements made therein. The acts taken here were all done pursuant to the receivership and the order of authority to the receiver.

Id. at 1055-56 (citation omitted).

In the instant case, we cannot agree that Martin Memorial's alleged misconduct occurred "during the course of the judicial proceedings" such that the litigation privilege discussed in Levin and American National Title & Escrow would apply. In discussing the rationale for the litigation privilege, the court in Levin explained:

In balancing...