JAMES W. GARDNER CORPORATION, APPELLANT/CROSS-APPELLEE,
v.
JOHN J. TWOMEY, III, APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
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SANDERLIN, Judge.
This is an appeal and cross-appeal from a final judgment in which the trial court awarded Twomey damages for unpaid compensation under an employment contract, but denied him attorney’s fees under section 448.08, Florida Statutes (1985). We affirm on the appeal, having found the trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding contract damages to Twomey. We reverse on the cross-appeal of the trial court’s denial of attorney’s fees to Twom-ey. The trial court was apparently laboring under the misconception that an action for unpaid compensation under a contract did not come within the provision for attorney’s fees to the prevailing party under section 448.08, relating to actions for unpaid wages. We have held to the contrary in Gulf Solar, Inc. v. Westfall, 447 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), which involved an action for unpaid commissions under a contract. Accordingly, we reverse that part of the final judgment which denied attorney’s fees to Twomey and remand to the trial court for a hearing on this issue only.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings on the issue of attorney’s fees only.
LEHAN, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Coleman v. City OF Hialeah, 525 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…unfortunate physical condition. These benefits are in no sense salary payments given for his services as a police officer. The order denying attorney’s fees under review is, therefore, in all respects, Affirmed. . James W. Gardner Corp. v. Twomey, 496 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986) (unpaid "compensation"); Doyal v. School Bd. of Liberty County, 415 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982) (school superintendent refused to sign salary warrants for school board employee); Metropolitan Dade County v. Stein, 384 So. 2d 16…
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Munsey v. Gen. Tel. Co. of Fla., 538 So. 2d 1328 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)…on case. Rather, the crux of the controversy in most of those cases is the determination of what constitutes “wages” for the purpose of the statute. See Coleman v. City of Hialeah, 525 So. 2d 435 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); James W. Gardner Corp. v. Twomey, 496 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Community Design Corp. v. Antonell, 459 So. 2d 343 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 469 So. 2d 748 (1985); Gulf Solar, Inc. v. Westfall, 447 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). For instance, in Gardner, unpaid compensation under a contract…
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Sentinel Enters., Inc. v. Stankiewicz, 545 So. 2d 288 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…e summary judgment entered adverse to Godwin on his claim for unpaid wages or salary, Sentinel is a prevailing party under section 448.08, Florida Statutes (1987), and is, therefore, entitled to attorney’s fees. See James W. Gardner Corp. v. Twomey, 496 So. 2d 946 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Ferry v. XRG Int’l, Inc., 492 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986) (one year’s salary to which employee was entitled under employment contract constituted “wages” for purposes of attorney’s fees statute, enabling court to award reason…
Authorities Cited
- Gulf Solar, Inc. v. Westfall, 447 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)