R & S PARTNERSHIP D/B/A RED SUNSET BUILDING, APPELLANT,
v.
MARTIN SCHAFFEL ENTERPRISES, INC., AND ST. PAUL FIRE & MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 1988-08-09
Nos. 87-1259, 87-1284, 87-1872 and 87-1873
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BARKDULL and BASKIN, JJ.
529 So. 2d 794 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1988) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Holding

The court held that a prior appellate decision rendering a cross-claim moot prevents the application of collateral estoppel in subsequent actions.


Headnotes

[1] Collateral estoppel requires that the parties and issues be identical and that the matter have been fully litigated and determined in a prior action resulting in a final…

[2] A prior judgment does not collaterally estop relitigation of an issue if appellate review of that judgment was rendered moot and was therefore not obtained.

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellant R & S sought indemnity or contribution from Schaffel for settlements paid after tenants sued R & S for damages from a defective roof repair.…

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Opinion of the Court
BASKIN, Judge.

BASKIN, Judge.

Appellant R & S Partnership d/b/a Red Sunset Building [R & S] seeks reversal of final summary judgments entered in favor of appellee Martin Schaffel Enterprises, Inc., [Schaffel] in four actions for indemnity or contribution for settlements paid by R & S. We reverse.

R & S owned a commercial building which sustained damage as a result of a defective roof repair. Several tenants filed actions to recover damages against R & S and Courtesy Roofing Company.1 In each of these actions, R & S filed a third-party complaint to obtain indemnity or contribution from Schaffel, a construction company. In addition to these actions, Designers Tile International Corporation, a tenant, filed an action against R & S, Courtesy Roofing Company, and Schaffel. R & S filed a cross-claim against Schaffel for indemnity or contribution; the matter proceeded to trial.

The jury found that R & S and Courtesy Roofing were negligent and that Schaffel was not a general contractor for the roof repair. Based on the judgment, Schaffel filed motions for summary judgment in the remaining third-party actions.2 Granting Schaffel’s motions, each trial court ruled that the Designers Tile judgment collaterally estopped relitigation of Schaffel’s liability. The courts also ruled that if the appellate court reversed the judgment in favor of Schaffel, R & S could file motions for relief from the summary judgments. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.540(b)(5).

When the Designers Tile judgment was appealed, this court did not review the trial court’s judgment in favor of Schaffel because our resolution of other issues rendered R & S’s appeal moot. Designers Tile Int’l Corp. v. Capitol C Corp., 499 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), review denied, 508 So. 2d 13 (Fla.1987).

Subsequently, the trial courts entered final summary judgments in favor of Schaffel in each action. R & S appealed.

“Collateral estoppel may be applied only where the parties and issues are identical and where a particular matter has been fully litigated and determined in a prior litigation which has resulted in a final decision in a court of competent jurisdiction.” Prudential Ins. Co. v. Turkal, 528 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Mobil Oil Corp. v. Shevin, 354 So. 2d 372 (Fla.1977); Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Race, 508 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987); Husky Indus., Inc. v. Griffith, 422 So. 2d 996 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982); Weigh Less for Life, Inc. v. Barnett Bank of Orange Park, 399 So. 2d 88 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); see Trucking Employees ofN. Jersey Welfare Fund, Inc. v. Romano, 450 So. 2d 843 (Fla.1984).

Because this court’s decision in Designers Tile 3 precluded appellate review of the trial court’s judgment on R & S’s cross-claim against Schaffel, that judgment does not collaterally estop R & S from litigating Schaffel’s liability. Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 28(1) (1982).

See Edwards v. Boeing Vertol Co., 750 F. 2d 13 (3d Cir. 1984); Allegheny County v. Maryland Casualty Co., 146 F. 2d 633 (3d Cir.1944); Reilly v. School Comm. of Boston, 362 Mass. 689, 290 N.E. 2d 516 (1972); Lynch v. Town of Groton, 11 Mass.App.Ct. 1008, 418 N.E. 2d 1281 (1981); see also Lewis v. Thomas, 489 F. 2d 700 (3d Cir.1973); Gelpi v. Tugwell, 123 F. 2d 377 (1st Cir.1941); Lake Falls Ass’n v. Board of Zoning Appeals, 209 Md. 561, 121 A. 2d 809 (1956); Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 13 comment g (1982); Restatement of Judgments § 69(2) (1942).

See generally Standefer v. United States, 447 U.S. 10, 23 n. 18, 100 S.Ct. 1999, 2007 n. 18, 64 L.Ed.2d 689, 700 n. 18 (1980) (“The estoppel doctrine ... is premised upon an underlying confidence that the result achieved in the initial litigation was substantially correct. In the absence of appellate review, or of similar procedures, such confidence is often unwarranted.”) (dicta); Annotation, Judgment as Res Judicata in a Subsequent Action Upon a Different Cause of Action, as Affected by Inability of Party Without His Fault to Obtain Review of Former Judgment, 157 A.L.R. 1038 (1945).

Genuine issues of material fact remain unresolved; we remand for further proceedings.

Reversed and remanded.

. Chubb/Pacific Indem. Group a/s/o Khachab, Raymond D.D.S. v. R & S Partnership, d/b/a Red Sunset Building v. Martin Schaffel Enterprises, Inc; and St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., case no. 84-11325;

U.S. Fire Ins. Co. a/s/o Marshall Majors, Inc. v. R & S Partnership, Ltd. d/b/a Red Sunset Building v. Martin Schaffel Enterprises, Inc. and St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., case no. 84-04564;

Empire of Hempstead New York v. R & S Partnership, Ltd. and Capital C Corp. v. JesCorp, Inc. d/b/a Courtesy Roofing Co., Martin Schaf-fel Enterprises, Inc., Ambassador Ins. Co., and St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., case no. 82-12548;

Dr. Paul Levitan and Dr. Stanley H. Eder v. R & S Partnership, Ltd. and Courtesy Roofing Co. v. Martin Schaffel Enterprises, Inc., Ambassador Ins. Co. and St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., case no. 81-21850.

. R & S entered into settlements on the other pending main claims.

. Designers Tile, 499 So. 2d at 5 (“The defendant R & S’s appeal on the crossclaim against defendant Martin Schaffel Enterprises, Inc., is moot because they are not liable to plaintiff Designers Tile....").


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • J.C. Alvarez v. Cotarelo, 626 So. 2d 267 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)
    …cause the controversy has become moot based on intervening events — the final judgment has no res judicata or collateral estop-pel effect, as the matter has not been fully litigated and determined. R & S Partnership v. Martin Schaffel Enters., Inc., 529 So. 2d 794 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) and authorities collected; 46 Am.Jur.2d Judgments § 464 (1969). It therefore follows that the final judgment in the prior injunction action cannot bar the instant action for damages based on the doctrines of res judicata or colla…
  • Hall v. Almaretta R. Hall, 549 So. 2d 207 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
    …ounterclaim which seeks to adjudicate the property interests in the former “marital” home. See Gordon v. Gordon, 59 So. 2d 40, 46-47 (Fla.), cert. denied, 344 U.S. 878, 73 S.Ct. 165, 97 L.Ed. 680 (1952); R & S Partnership v. Martin Schaffel Enters., 529 So. 2d 794, 795 (Fla.Sd DCA 1988); Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Race, 508 So. 2d 1276, 1278-79 (Fla.3d DCA 1987), approved on other grounds, 542 So. 2d 347 (Fla.1989); Krug v. Meros, 468 So. 2d 299, 302-03 (Fla.2d DCA), rev. denied, 480 So. 2d 1295 (Fla.1985);…

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