J. RAY TURNER, APPELLANT,
v.
ROBERT LAWTON, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court held that the trial court erred in denying the appellant's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.
A South Carolina resident, president of a Florida corporation and administrator of its pension plan, was sued individually and as administrator. The s…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Minimum Contacts cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
The appellant, J. Ray Turner, appeals from a nonfinal order determining that the court had personal jurisdiction over the appellant. We reverse.
The appellant, a resident of South Carolina, is the president of Trayco, Inc., a South Carolina corporation doing business in the state of Florida. In addition to being one of its major stockholders, the appellant is designated administrator of Trayco’s employee profit sharing plan and profit sharing trust (pension plan). The appellee, Robert Lawton, who is a Florida resident and former employee of Trayco, Inc., brought suit against the pension plan, the corporation, and appellant individually for money allegedly owed to him under the pension plan. The summons contained in the record indicates it was to be served upon the pension plan by serving the appellant as administrator of the plan.
The appellant moved to dismiss the complaint as to him individually for lack of jurisdiction. The trial court denied the motion and this interlocutory appeal timely followed.
We find that the court erred in denying appellant’s motion to dismiss. Although appellant was named individually in the complaint, the summons was served upon him as administrator of the pension plan and not in his individual capacity. Even if proper service had been made, however, there were insufficient contacts to bring appellant within the ambit of the Florida longarm statute. See § 48.193, Fla.Stat. (1983); Excel Handbag Co., Inc. v. Edison Bros. Stores, Inc., 428 So. 2d 348 (Fla.3d DCA 1983); Bloom v. A.H. Pond Co., Inc., 519 F.Supp. 1162 (S.D.Fla.1981).
We, therefore, reverse.
REVERSED.
DANAHY, A.C.J., and CAMPBELL and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Kennedy v. Reed, 533 So. 2d 1200 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)…ncluding the appellants. This argument fails because jurisdiction will not lie over an individual because of acts performed in his capacity as agent for another. Bloom v. A.H. Pond Company, 519 F.Supp. 1162 (S.D.Fla.1981). See also Turner v. Lawton, 473 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). In summary, we find that the allegations in the complaint are insufficient to bring appellants within the ambit of the long arm statute and, therefore, reverse. REVERSED. SCHOONOVER, A.C.J., and LEHAN, J., concur.…
-
Galego v. Robinson, 695 So. 2d 443 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997)…he court is without merit. There are no allegations in the complaint that any of the actions taken by appellant pursuant to the power of attorney were conducted in Florida as required by section 48.193, Florida Statutes (1995). See Turner v. Lawton, 473 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985). We therefore conclude that there were insufficient contacts to bring appellant within the jurisdiction of the Florida court and that appellant was entitled to the traditional form of service of process pursuant to section 48.031,…
Authorities Cited
- Bloom v. AH Pond Co., Inc., 519 F. Supp. 1162 (S.D. Fla. 1981)
- Excel Handbag Co., Inc. v. Edison Bros. Stores, Inc., 428 So. 2d 348 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)