Estes v. Rodin

• Decision Date: 10 October 2018
• Docket Number: No. 3D17-1201,3D17-1201
• Citation: 259 So.3d 183
• Parties: Christy Lee ESTES, etc., et al., Appellants, v. Jennifer RODIN, et al., Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

259 So.3d 183

Christy Lee ESTES, etc., et al., Appellants,

v.Jennifer RODIN, et al., Appellees.

No. 3D17-1201

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Opinion filed October 10, 2018

Coral Reef Law Offices, P.A., and Lori K. Weems, Tallahassee and Nathan D. Clark, Palmetto Bay, for appellants.

Wicker Smith O'Hara McCoy & Ford, P.A., and Alyssa M. Reiter (Fort Lauderdale), for appellee Jennifer Rodin; Mintzer, Sarowitz, Zeris, Ledva & Meyers, LLP, and Sean M. McCleary and Addison J. Meyers, Miami, for appellee Robert Nicholl; Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., and Melinda S. Thornton, Miami, for appellee David Brown.

Almazan Law, P.A., and Lianet Rodriguez, Miami, Johanna Castellon-Vega, and Alexander P. Almazan, for Brad Lamm as amicus curiae.

Before LAGOA, LOGUE, and SCALES, JJ.

LAGOA, J.

Appellants Christy Lee "Cali" Estes ("Estes") and The Addictions Academy, LLC ("The Addictions Academy"), a Florida limited liability company (collectively, "Appellants"), appeal from the trial court's order granting Appellees Jennifer Rodin ("Rodin"), Robert Nicholl ("Nicholl"), and David Brown's ("Brown") (collectively, "Appellees") motions to dismiss Appellants' Second Amended Complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction with prejudice. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the order as to all Appellees.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Estes is an addiction specialist who practices intervention, treatment, and coaching, and trains other individuals to do the same in Miami-Dade County. In 2013, Estes established The Addictions Academy, which provides addiction treatment services in person and via the internet both in the United States and internationally. Shortly thereafter, the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors ("NAADAC") granted The Addictions Academy's application for "Approved National Education Provider" status.

Appellees also practice in the addiction treatment field. Rodin is a resident of Orange County, California, and founder of Hope Family Interventions, which is headquartered in California. Nicholl is a resident of Orange County, California, and owner of Celebrate a New Life, Inc., which is based in California. Nicholl is also an independent contractor for Hope By The Sea, Inc., a company that does not engage in any business in Florida. Brown is a resident of Johnson County, Kansas, whose sole place of business, Avenues to Recovery Inc., is located in Kansas. Appellees each advertise their services on various websites on the Internet.

Between May 13 and May 25, 2015, Estes and Appellees belonged to a closed Facebook group with over 4000 members titled "Addiction Professional Network Group" (the "closed Facebook group"). On two comment threads in the closed Facebook group, Appellees, as well as Brad Lamm,¹ Ray Estefania, David Wolan, and Edward Saunders (the "codefendants"), posted increasingly combative comments questioning Appellants' credentials and addiction services business, as well as Estes's character. After these comment exchanges, Estes was blocked from accessing the closed Facebook group, but re-accessed the group by borrowing her friend's Facebook login information.

On May 27, 2016, Appellants filed their complaint against Appellees, the NAADAC, and the other codefendants, alleging counts of slander per se against Appellees for their "false and malicious statements" in the closed Facebook group. Appellees each moved to dismiss the complaint as to them individually for lack of personal jurisdiction. On April 10, 2017, Appellants filed their verified Second Amended Complaint,² which amended their counts of slander per se to defamation per se and added counts for injunctive relief and violations of Florida's Antirust Act against Appellees. Appellees renewed their motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction with supporting sworn affidavits.

Rodin

In her sworn affidavit, Rodin attested that she: (1) had "virtually no ties, connections or ongoing obligations within ... Florida"; (2) did "not visit Florida regularly"; (3) did "not have any business associates in Florida," and did "not refer [her] clients to treatment providers in Florida"; (4) did "not have any contracts to which any Florida resident or business entities are parties[ ] [n]or ...call for payment or performance ... in Florida"; (5) did "not own a business, corporation, real property, bank account or anything in ... Florida" nor advertise in Florida; and (6) did "not perform any acts in Florida" concerning Appellants' allegations against her. Rodin only identified one occasion where she visited Florida in the last seven years, which occurred when she dropped off in Florida a client who resided in New York City and then returned to California the same day.

Nicholl

In his sworn affidavit, Nicholl attested that: (1) the companies he owned and worked for did not "engage in any business," "solicit patients," "conduct interventions" in Florida, or "maintain, own or operate a business" or office in Florida; (2) he did "not operate, conduct, engage in, or carry on, a business venture in ... Florida"; (3) he did "not solicit patients or clients for [his] business" nor conduct an intervention in Florida; (4) he was not affiliated with websites specifically targeting patients in Florida; and (5) he did "not own real property or maintain a bank account" nor advertise in Florida.

Brown

In his sworn affidavit, Brown attested that he: (1) did "not own a business or [c]orporation"; (2) he did not maintain a registered agent, office, or license to conduct business in Florida; (3) did not own real property or a bank account in Florida; (4) did not advertise in Florida nor provide services to patients in Florida; (5) had "maintained only isolated contact with individuals and entities domiciled in ... Florida"; and (6) did not perform any acts in Florida with respect to the allegations against him.

In response to Appellees' motions to dismiss and affidavits, Estes filed her own sworn counter-affidavit with the attached comment threads from the closed Facebook Group. Estes attested that she had seen the posts, had privately messaged Appellees "to halt their barrage of social media attacks," and had suffered reputational harm in numerous ways, including the loss of a book deal, denial and termination of certifications in the addiction services field (including the NAADAC), and loss of business associates.³ Estes further attested that some of the members in the closed Facebook group were addiction industry professionals located in Florida, but did not identify any Florida resident that accessed or viewed the allegedly defamatory comments other than herself. Estes's counter-affidavit also did not contradict or dispute the assertions in Appellees' affidavits.

On July 24, 2017, the trial court held a hearing on Appellees' motions to dismiss. Upon its conclusion, the trial court found that Appellants had satisfied the first prong of the personal jurisdiction test established in Venetian Salami v. Parthenais, 554 So.2d 499, 502 (Fla. 1989), i.e., the Second Amended Complaint alleged sufficient jurisdictional facts (the alleged tortious acts) to bring the action within Florida's long-arm statute. The trial court, however, granted each Appellee's motion to dismiss with prejudice as the trial court found that Appellants failed to satisfy the second prong of Venetian Salami, i.e., whether each Appellee possessed sufficient minimum contacts with Florida to satisfy constitutional due process requirements. This timely appeal ensued.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

We review de novo a trial court's ruling on a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Kingland Estates, Ltd. v. Davis, 170 So.3d 825, 827 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015) ; Renaissance Health Publ'g., LLC v. Resveratrol Partners, LLC, 982 So.2d 739, 741 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). We further review a denial of a request for jurisdictional discovery for an abuse of discretion. See Alvarez v. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., 75 So.3d 789, 793 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) ("A trial court is given wide discretion in dealing with discovery matters, and unless there is a clear abuse of that discretion, the appellate court will not disturb the trial court's order.").

III. ANALYSIS

It is well-established that two inquires must be made in determining whether a court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant under Florida's long-arm statute. " ‘First, it must be determined that the complaint alleges sufficient jurisdictional facts to bring the action within the ambit of the statute; and if it does, the next inquiry is whether sufficient "minimum contacts" are demonstrated to satisfy due process requirements.’ " Venetian Salami Co. v. Parthenais, 554 So.2d 499, 502 (Fla. 1989) (quoting Unger v. Publisher Entry Serv., Inc., 513 So.2d 674, 675 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987) ). The constitutional minimum contacts prong "is controlled by United States Supreme Court precedent interpreting the Due Process Clause and imposes a more restrictive requirement" than the long-arm statute. Execu-Tech Bus. Sys. v. New Oji Paper Co., 752 So.2d 582, 584 (Fla. 2000). Both prongs must be satisfied in order to exercise personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant. Rollet v. de Bizemont, 159 So.3d 351, 356 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015).

To challenge the allegations of a complaint concerning jurisdiction or to raise a contention of minimum contacts, a defendant must file a legally sufficient affidavit in support of his or her position. Venetian Salami, 554 So.2d at 502 ; Rollet, 159 So.3d at 356. The burden then shifts to the plaintiff to prove via counter-affidavit "the basis upon which jurisdiction may be obtained." Venetian Salami, 554 So.2d at 502. In most cases, the affidavits can be harmonized. However, if the affidavits cannot be reconciled, a limited evidentiary hearing is required in order for the trial court to determine the jurisdictional issue. Venetian Salami, 554 So.2d at 503.

A. Sufficient Jurisdictional Facts Under Florida's...