KENT INSURANCE COMPANY; GAGS ENTERPRISES, INC., D/B/A SANDSPUR BAR, APPELLANTS,
v.
RUTH JOANNE SCHROEDER, ET AL., APPELLEE
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Kent Insurance Company and Gags Enterprises appealed a jury verdict awarding compensatory and punitive damages against them for an intentional tort committed by McElfish, the corporation's president and managing agent. The court affirmed, holding that a corporation is liable for punitive damages when the tortfeasor is a managing agent or primary owner acting within the scope of employment, distinguishing the case from Mercury Motors where only a low-level employee was involved.
A corporation is liable for punitive damages when the person whose acts form the basis for punitive damages is the corporation's managing agent or primary owner acting within the scope of employment. The Mercury Motors standard, which requires proof of corporate fault for low-level employees, does not apply to situations involving managing agents or primary owners.
[1] A corporation is liable for punitive damages when its president and managing agent commits an intentional tort within the scope of employment.
[2] A jury's finding that an employee acted within the scope of employment will be sustained on appeal if supported by the record.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a corporation can only act through its officers and agents”
Establishes the foundational principle that corporate liability extends to acts of officers and agents
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGags Enterprises owned the Sandspur Bar in Melbourne, Florida, with an attached studio apartment occupied by McElfish, the bar's manager and corporate…
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SHARP, Judge.
Kent Insurance Company and Gags Enterprises, Inc. (Gags) appeal from a jury verdict and final judgment awarding Sehroeder $31,500.00 in compensatory damages and $30,000.00 in punitive damages for an intentional tort committed against her by McElfish, the president of Gags and a primary stockholder. Gags argues it is not liable for punitive damages under the requirements of Mercury Motors Express, Inc. v. Smith, 393 So. 2d 545 (Fla.1981). We affirm.
The record establishes that Gags owned the Sandspur Bar in Melbourne, Florida. The bar had a studio apartment attached to the back, which was occupied at various times by McElfish, who acted as the bar’s manager. As he had done on other occasions, McElfish invited Schroeder to go with him to a party at another lounge in Melbourne, to assist him in entertaining business clients. After the party, they returned to the apartment at the Sandspur. An argument arose between them. Anger begat violence, which resulted in McElfish inflicting numerous personal injuries on Schroeder. In a special interrogatory verdict, the jury found that McElfish was acting within the scope of his employment for Gags at the time of his actions. There was some evidence in the record as to the business relationship of Schroeder and McElfish, and McElfish explained that he was trying to remove Schroeder from the premises because she was rowdy and intoxicated, and he wanted to lock up the bar for the evening. The jury's finding is thus supported by the record and must be sustained on appeal. Helman v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company, 349 So. 2d 1187 (Fla.1977); INA Life Insurance Company of New York v. Davis, 404 So. 2d 397 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981).
It is axiomatic “that a corporation can only act through its officers and agents_” Browning v. State, 101 Fla. 1051, 133 So. 847, 848 (1931). Thus, by virtue of his position as corporate president of Gags and the manager of the bar owned by Gags, the acts of McElfish are indistinguishable from the acts of the corporation itself.1 Under these circumstances, the corporation is liable for the punitive damages. See Bankers Multiple Life Insurance Company v. Farish, 464 So. 2d 530 (Fla.1985); Robinson v. Winn-Dixie Stores, 447 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984).
This case is factually distinguishable from Mercury Motors because the person upon whose acts punitive damages were predicated in that case, was a low level employee. Under those facts, the plaintiff must prove some fault or wrongdoing on the part of a corporation before punitive damages will be awarded against it, on the basis of vicarious liability or respondeat superior. In the instant case, the employee acting in the scope of his employment was the president and managing agent. The supreme court in Farish stated that Mercury Motors “was not intended to apply to situations where the agent primarily causing the imposition of punitive damages was the managing agent or primary owner of the corporation.” Farish, 464 So. 2d at 533.
AFFIRMED.
ORFINGER and COWART, JJ., concur. . Jacksonville Amer. Pub. Co. v. Jacksonville Paper Co., 143 Fla. 835, 197 So. 672 (1940); 2 W. Fletcher, Cyclopedia of the Law of Corporations, §§ 266-267, 275 (C. Scotti ed. 1982); 8 Fla. Jur.2d, Business Relationships, § 240 (1978).
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Denis Rety v. Green, 546 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…poration’s president rather than a lower echelon employee, the corporation was liable for puni [*426] tive damages as well as compensatory damages. Bankers Multiple Line Ins. Co. v. Farish, 464 So. 2d 530, 533 (Fla.1985); Kent Ins. Co. v. Schroeder, 469 So. 2d 209 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). The trial court also (a) properly allowed an amendment to the defamation count against the defendant Southern Commodity Corporation to correct a technical error therein because no prejudice to the said defendant was shown below…
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S.H. Inv. & Dev. Corp. v. Dorsey Kincaid and Bernice Kincaid, 495 So. 2d 768 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)…not pleaded in this case, and the evidence did not support a verdict on that basis. Cf. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Robinson, 472 So. 2d 722 (Fla.1985); Bankers Multiple Line Ins. Co. v. Farish, 464 So. 2d 530 (Fla.1985); Kent Ins. Co. v. Schroeder, 469 So. 2d 209 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new trial on liability and damages, compensatory and punitive. The appellant, HIC, is entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees for its defense of counts three, five and six of the complai…
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Country Manors Ass'n, Inc. v. Master Antenna Sys., Inc., 534 So. 2d 1187 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988)…not precluded when the insured himself is not personally at fault, but is merely vicariously liable for another’s wrong. Id. It is axiomatic “that a corporation can only act through its officers and agents.... ” Kent Insurance Company v. Schroeder, 469 So. 2d 209, 210 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985), quoting from, Browning v. State, 101 Fla. 1051, 133 So. 847, 848 (1931). In the instant case, it was the conduct of the directors acting in their capacity to represent the Association that gave rise to the punitive damages…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Helman v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. & William A. Cagle, 349 So. 2d 1187 (Fla. 1977)
- Mercury Motors Express, Inc. v. Smith, 393 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 1981)
- Bankers Multiple Line Ins. Co. v. Farish, 464 So. 2d 530 (Fla. 1985)
- Jacksonville Am. Publ'g Co. v. Jacksonville Paper Co., 143 Fla. 835 (Fla. 1940)
- Browning v. State, 133 So. 847 (Fla. 1931)
- State ex rel. Beatrice Newport v. Parks, 143 Fla. 901 (Fla. 1940)
- Robinson v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., 447 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)
- Leberton Anidos v. State, 447 So. 2d 1003 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)
- INA Life Ins. Co. OF NEW York v. Davis, 404 So. 2d 397 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)