RAYMOND PUCHNER, APPELLANT,
v.
DREXEL BURNHAM LAMBERT, INC., APPELLEE; RAYMOND PUCHNER, APPELLANT, V. PRUDENTIAL-BACHE SECURITIES, INC. APPELLEE
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Puchner sued two brokerage firms for securities fraud and other claims arising from unauthorized account churning by a broker-manager. The trial court dismissed claims for punitive damages and civil theft and ordered arbitration. The appellate court reversed, finding the brokers waived their right to arbitration through substantial engagement in litigation and discovery, and that the complaints adequately stated causes of action for punitive damages and civil theft.
The brokers waived their right to compel arbitration through their substantial engagement in pending court proceedings and discovery for over five months following the Oppenheimer decision. The complaints contain sufficient allegations to sustain claims for punitive damages under both a managerial employee standard and a negligent supervision standard, and state sufficient claims for civil theft under Florida Statute Section 812.014(1).
[1] A party waives the right to compel arbitration by substantially engaging in pending court proceedings and discovery for an extended period following a relevant judicial d…
[2] A corporate employer may be liable for punitive damages for torts committed by its employees within the scope of employment if the tort was committed by a managerial empl…
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“they have waived the right to compel arbitration no matter what the outcome of the debate”
Establishes that substantial engagement in litigation and discovery constitutes waiver of arbitration rights, regardless of the legal questions about timing.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePuchner had investment accounts at both Prudential-Bache Securities and Drexel Burnham Lambert. A broker named Goodstein, who worked as an assistant o…
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PER CURIAM.
Although tempted to enter into the parties’ intellectually challenging debate of the question whether the brokers, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. and Prudential-Bache Securities, Inc., waived their right to compel arbitration by failing to move therefor before the Florida Supreme Court decision in Oppenheimer & Co. v. Young, 475 So. 2d 221 (Fla.1985), that securities fraud claims asserted under Florida law are subject to compulsory arbitration, we are convinced by the brokers’ substantial engagement in the pending court proceedings and discovery for more than five months following the issuance of Oppenheimer1 that they have waived the right to compel arbitration no matter what the outcome of the debate.
Furthermore, we have examined the appellant’s pertinent amended complaints and, contrary to the trial court, conclude that they contain allegations sufficient to sustain claims for punitive dam ages against the appellees. In these complaints, Puchner set forth that Goodstein, a broker who allegedly churned his account at both brokerage houses, committed a variety of described fraudulent acts against Puchner within the course and scope of his-employment as an assistant office manager at Bache and, later, as an office manager at Drexel. Puchner further alleged that the appellees foreseeably contributed to his injury by negligently supervising Good-stein by permitting him (a) to use a post office box as Puchner’s address without the required written authorization of Puch-ner and (b) to continue to handle Puchner’s accounts even after discovering that Good-stein had defrauded another Bache customer. Because a corporate employer will be liable for punitive damages resulting from torts committed by its employees within the scope of their employment if (1) the tort was committed by a managerial employee or (2) the tort was committed by a non-managerial employee and the management of the corporation was guilty of some fault which foreseeably contributed to the plaintiff’s injury, McArthur Dairy v. Original Kielbs, Inc., 481 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), the complaints state a cause of action for punitive damages on either ground.
Similarly, the counts for civil theft must be restored. In respect to these counts, Puchner alleged that Goodstein wrongfully misused and converted Puch-ner’s funds and securities to his own use within the course and scope of his employment as an assistant office manager at Bache and as an office manager at Drexel. These allegations are sufficient to state a violation of Section 812.014(1), Florida Statutes (1983).2
Accordingly, we reverse the order compelling arbitration and orders dismissing the appellant’s claims for punitive damages and counts for civil theft and remand the cause for further judicial proceedings.
. The decision at 475 So. 2d 221 is the last in the series which began with Young v. Oppenheimer & Co., 434 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), and continued with the affirmance of the district court in Oppenheimer & Co. v. Young, 456 So. 2d 1175 (Fla.1984). On a petition for writ of certiorari, the Supreme Court of the United States quashed the latter decision and remanded the case to the Florida Supreme Court for reconsideration in light of Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Byrd, 470 U.S. 213, 105 S.Ct. 1238, 84 L.Ed.2d 158 (1985). The remand resulted in the most recent Oppenheimer. . The section provides in pertinent part:
"(1) A person is guilty of theft if he knowingly obtains or uses, or endeavors to obtain or to use, the property of another with intent to, either temporarily or permanently:
“(a) Deprive the other person of a right to the property or a benefit therefrom.”
§ 812.014(1), Fla.Stat. (1983).
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Jasma Corp. v. Cap. Bank, 644 So. 2d 515 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)…of conduct, see Life Ins. Co. of N. Am. v. Del Aguila, 417 So. 2d 651 (Fla.1982); Horizon Leasing v. Leefmans, 568 So. 2d 73 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990), or that the bank had negligently hired or supervised him. See Puchner v. Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., 498 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986); McArthur Dairy, Inc. v. Original Kielbs, Inc., 481 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). IV As to the first issue on cross-appeal, the trial court properly granted the bank’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on its clai…
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Tinwood N.V. v. SUN Banks, Inc., 570 So. 2d 955 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)…he defendant lawfully obtains possession of the plaintiffs funds and thereafter converts said funds to his own use will justify an action for civil theft. Masvidal v. Ochoa, 505 So. 2d 555 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Puchner v. Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., 498 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986). Furthermore, as stated in State v. Oates, 330 So. 2d 554, 556 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976): One obtaining personal property by trick, device, or fraud, intending to appropriate it, is guilty of larceny on subsequent appropriation. A pers…
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Travers v. E.F. Hutton & Co., Inc., 499 So. 2d 73 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. Compare Puchner v. Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., 498 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986).…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. v. Byrd, 470 U.S. 213 (U.S. 1985)
- McARTHUR Dairy, Inc. v. Original Kielbs, Inc., 481 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)
- Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. v. Young, 456 So. 2d 1175 (Fla. 1984)
- Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. v. Young, 475 So. 2d 221 (Fla. 1985)
- Young v. Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., 434 So. 2d 369 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)