FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT CO., APPELLANT,
v.
FRED W. SCHAUER, LEO BLAIR, DROTT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC., A FOREIGN CORPORATION, CASE POWER & EQUIPMENT COMPANY, BLAIR CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC., ROY SIMON AND SUN SECOND NATIONAL BANK OF DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1979-09-19
No. 77-2384
MOORE, J., and FARRINGTON, OTIS (Retired), Associate Judge, concur.
374 So. 2d 1159 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1979) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Florida Power & Light Co. appealed a summary judgment dismissing its third-party complaint against Roy Simon for indemnity and contribution arising from an accident where a crane struck power lines, injuring workmen. The court affirmed dismissal of the indemnity claim but reversed dismissal of the contribution claim, finding the latter stated a viable cause of action.


Holding

The court held that the summary judgment dismissing the indemnity claim was properly granted, but the dismissal of the contribution claim was improper because the contribution claim stated a valid cause of action and genuine issues of material fact existed precluding summary judgment.


Headnotes

[1] A claim for indemnity based on active versus passive negligence is barred when the party seeking indemnity is actively negligent.

[2] A claim for contribution may be maintained even if the party seeking contribution is found to be actively negligent.

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Key Quotes

“On authority of Houdaille and our decision in Walter Taft Bradshaw & Associates v. Bedsole, 374 So. 2d 644, 1979, we affirm the summary judgment dismissing appellant's claim for indemnity against Simon.”

Establishes the controlling legal standard for rejecting the indemnity claim based on Florida Supreme Court and Fourth District precedent.

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Facts & Procedural History

Sun Second National Bank hired Blair Construction Company to construct a building addition, with Roy Simon orally employed to design and supervise it.…

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Opinion of the Court
DOWNEY, Chief Judge.

DOWNEY, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from a final summary judgment against Florida Power & Light Co. on its third party complaint against Roy Simon.

Factually, it appears that Sun Second National Bank of Delray desired to make an addition to their bank building. Blair Construction Company was hired to construct the building and Roy Simon was orally employed to design it. Blair’s contract with the bank said that Simon was to design and supervise the building. An acci-. dent occurred when a crane lifting a steel beam came in contact with Florida Power & Light high intensity lines overhead and Schauer and Pascarella, workmen for Blair, were injured.

Schauer sued Blair and Florida Power & Light Company.1 Florida Power & Light filed a third party complaint against Simon for indemnity and contribution. In his complaint Schauer charged that Florida Power & Light:

1) had a duty to de-energize the lines when it knew that cranes would be working there;

2) knew, or in exercise of reasonable care should have known, such equipment would be there December 12th, but did not de-energize;

3) was negligent in maintaining the lines as they were not properly insulated.

Florida Power & Light, in its third party complaint, charged Simon:

1) had a duty to design and supervise the addition in a prudent and reasonable manner;

2) was negligent in: designing so as to encroach on Florida Power & Light easement; designing and planning knowing that equipment would be there near the lines; failing to notify Florida Power & Light to de-energize the lines; and failing to supervise;

3) was the sole proximate cause of plaintiff’s injuries;

4) was actively negligent while Florida Power & Light was only passively negligent;

5) was liable for all or part of Florida Power & Light’s liability;

6) was liable for fees and costs.

The trial judge granted a summary judgment on behalf of Simon and dismissed the appellant’s third party complaint for indemnity and contribution.

While this suit was pending the Supreme Court of Florida decided the case of Houdaille Industries, Inc. v. Edwards, 374 So. 2d 490, 1979, which we find to be controlling with regard to the appellant’s claim for indemnity against Simon. On authority of Houdaille and our decision in Walter Taft Bradshaw & Associates v. Bedsole, 374 So. 2d 644, 1979, we affirm the summary judgment dismissing appellant’s claim for indemnity against Simon. However, the summary judgment also dismissed appellant’s third party complaint for contribution and we find said complaint stated a cause of action for contribution and the proofs offered in support of the summary judgment did not demonstrate that no genuine issue of material fact existed on that question.

Accordingly, we affirm the summary judgment as regards the dismissal of the appellant’s claim for indemnity and reverse the summary judgment as regards the dismissal of appellant’s claim for contribution.

AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART.

MOORE, J., and FARRINGTON, OTIS (Retired), Associate Judge, concur. . By amended complaint Schauer made Simon a party defendant.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Schauer v. Blair Constr. Co., Inc., 374 So. 2d 1160 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979)
    …e cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith. REVERSED AND REMANDED with directions. MOORE, J., and FARRINGTON, OTIS (Retired), Associate Judge, concur. . This is a companion case to Florida Power & Light Co. v. Schauer et al., 374 So. 2d 1159, in which we have today reversed in part and affirmed in part a summary judgment in favor of appellee Simon and against Florida Power & Light Company on its third party complaint against Simon. We there upheld Florida Power & Light’s third party com…
  • Jowanowitch v. Fla. Power & Light Co., 381 So. 2d 750 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980)
    …recent Florida Supreme Court decision in Houdaille Industries, Inc. v. Edwards, 374 So. 2d 490 (Fla.1979), the trial court correctly entered final summary judgment for the third-party defendants. See also, Florida Power and Light Company v. Schauer, 374 So. 2d 1159 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979) and Bradshaw v. Bedsole, 374 So. 2d 644 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979). In summary, we reverse the final summary judgment in favor of FP&L and affirm the final summary judgment in favor of the third-party defendants. We also reverse the di…

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