PAUL R. SMITH, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
MARC HARR, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1990-12-27
No. 90-351
COBB and HARRIS, JJ., concur.
571 So. 2d 575 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1990) Caution
Cited by 10 cases

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.

Synopsis

Paul Smith appeals a summary judgment granted in favor of Dr. Marc Harr in a medical malpractice action. The court reverses because a material factual dispute exists regarding whether a settlement release between Smith and an auto accident tortfeasor was intended to bar Smith's malpractice claim against his treating physician.


Holding

The court reversed the summary judgment, holding that the reassignment of rights created a material factual dispute regarding the intent of the original settlement between Smith and CFDC's insurer, precluding summary judgment and requiring a trial on this factual question.


Headnotes

[1] A release executed in favor of an initial tortfeasor may operate as a bar to a subsequent medical malpractice claim if the settlement is intended to compensate for injuri…

[2] If a settlement agreement with an initial tortfeasor does not clearly reserve the victim's cause of action against subsequent health care providers, a legal presumption a…

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Key Quotes

“if the victim's settlement agreement with, and release of, the initial tortfeasor does not clearly reserve to the victim the victim's cause of action against the health care providers, the legal presumption is that the victim recovered from the initial tortfeasor for the injuries caused by the health care providers and the initial tortfeasor will become subrogated to that cause of action”

Establishes the legal presumption that absent explicit reservation, a settlement release bars subsequent medical malpractice claims

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Facts & Procedural History

Smith's existing back problems were exacerbated in a car accident caused by Central Florida Distributing Company (CFDC). Smith sought treatment from D…

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Opinion of the Court
GOSHORN, Judge.

GOSHORN, Judge.

Paul Smith appeals the final judgment entered against him after the trial court granted Dr. Marc Harr’s motion for summary judgment. Because the record demonstrates a material factual dispute between the parties, we reverse.

Smith’s existing back problems were exacerbated when his automobile was rear-ended by a vehicle owned by Central Florida Distributing Company (CFDC). Smith sought Dr. Harr’s care. After becoming dissatisfied with Dr. Harr’s treatment, Smith filed a medical malpractice action. The trial court eventually entered summary judgment in favor of Dr. Harr premised on a release executed and delivered between Smith and CFDC’s insuror. That release provided in pertinent part:

I/we, being of lawful age, have released and discharged, and by these presents do for myself/ourselves, my/our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, release, acquit and forever discharge Central Florida Distributing Co, Inc. David C. Stuff, South Carolina Insurance Co, Seibels, Bruce and any and all other persons, firms and corporations of and from any and all actions, causes of action, claims, demands, damages, costs, loss of services, expenses, compensation, and all consequential damage on account of, or in any way growing out of any and all known and unknown personal injuries and death and property damage resulting or to result from accident that occurred on or about the 7th day of June 1983, at or near 624 South Ridgewood Avenue, Daytona Beach, Florida.

After Dr. Harr motioned for summary judgment, Smith filed a reassignment of rights in opposition to the motion. In the reassignment CFDC’s insuror stated that the release was intended to bind only Smith and CFDC:

Whereas, Paul R. Smith was involved in an automobile accident on July 7, 1983 with a vehicle owned by Central Florida Distributing and Whereas, Central Florida Distributing, it’s employees, agents and servants including David C. Stuff, was insured with respect to the aforesaid accident with The Seibels Bruce Insurance Company, Policy Number CAP 8965720-LA; and Whereas, The Seibels Bruce Insurance Company was duly authorized pursuant to the aforesaid policy to act on behalf of Central Florida Distributing, it’s employees, agents and servants including David C. Stuff in negotiating a settlement of the aforesaid claim and the form of any release documents; and Whereas, The Seibels Bruce Insurance Companies did negotiate a settlement with Paul R. Smith and Phyllis Smith, his wife pertaining to the aforesaid accident; and Whereas, the parties did not intend for the release executed by Paul R. Smith to operate as a release or assignment of any claim for medical malpractice Paul R. Smith may have had against Marc Harr, M.D.; and Whereas, if said release did operate to assign said cause of action for medical malpractice by operation of law, it was a result of a mutual mistake, it is hereby agreed as follows:
1. The Seibels Bruce Insurance Company, individually and as agent for Central Florida Distributing, it’s employees, agents and servants including David C. Stuff, hereby reassigns any cause of action for medical malpractice it may have acquired pursuant to the aforesaid release against Dr. Marc Harr, including those matters asserted in the action presently pending styled Paul R. Smith and Phyllis Smith, his wife, vs. Marc Harr, in the Seventh Judicial Circuit in and for Volusia County, Case No. 88-2899-CA-01-E.

Both parties agree that the outcome of this appeal hinges on this court's holding in the recent case of Rucks v. Pushman, 541 So. 2d 673 (Fla. 5th DCA), review denied, 549 So. 2d 1014 (Fla.1989). Rucks addressed the question of whether a plaintiff’s settlement with an initial tortfeasor precludes recovery against a second tortfeasor who further injures the plaintiff while providing medical treatment to the initial injury. As this court observed, con fusion arises when it is unclear whether the settlement agreement is intended to compensate the plaintiff for injuries sustained by the original tort and the ensuing negligent medical care, thus creating' an assignment to the initial tortfeasor of the plaintiff’s cause of action against the negligent medical providers, or the settlement is not intended to create such an assignment and the plaintiff thus retains his cause of action against the negligent health care providers:

[T]he rule is that if the victim’s settlement agreement with, and release of, the initial tortfeasor does not clearly reserve to the victim the victim’s cause of action against the health care providers, the legal presumption is that the victim recovered from the initial tortfeasor for the injuries caused by the health care providers and the initial tortfeasor will become subrogated to that cause of action and victim will be thereafter barred from asserting that cause of action against the health care providers.

While the summary judgment in this case is procedurally correct, if in truth and in fact the true settlement agreement between the victim and the initial tortfeasor was intended by those parties thereto to be only a settlement of the victim’s injuries resulting from the initial tortfeasor and was not intended to compensate the victim for injuries resulting from the negligence of the health care providers, and should not in law or in equity result in a transfer to the initial tortfeasor of the victim’s cause of action against the health care providers, the victim should, in justice and fairness and law, be given an opportunity to establish that fact.

Id. at 676.

It is axiomatic that summary judgment is inappropriate unless the facts of a case are so crystallized that disposition of questions of law are all that remain for a trial court to determine. Bess v. 17545 Collins Avenue, Inc., 98 So. 2d 490 (Fla.1957). An opposing affidavit need only raise a material issue of fact to survive the motion. Harvey Building, Inc. v. Haley, 175 So. 2d 780 (Fla.1965). All inferences, doubts, and conclusions must be construed in favor of the party opposing summary judgment. Johnson v. Studstill, 71 So. 2d 251 (Fla.1954); Yost v. Miami Transit Co., 66 So. 2d 214 (Fla.1953). In this case, the reassignment of rights filed by CFDC’s insuror established the issue of material fact which we referred to in Rucks relating to the intention of the settlement between a plaintiff and the initial tortfeasor. Thus, summary judgment was improperly entered.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

COBB and HARRIS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • THE Florida BAR v. RAY, 797 So. 2d 556 (Fla. 2001)
    …his motion for summary judgment; however, the Bar proffered an affidavit in opposition which demonstrated issues of material fact, and we therefore find no error in the referee's denial of Ray's summary judgment motion. See generally Smith v. Harr, 571 So. 2d 575, 577 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) (affidavit in opposition to summary judgment motion "need only raise a material issue of fact to survive the motion,” and "[a]ll inferences, doubts, and conclusions must be construed in favor of the party opposing summary ju…
  • Rodriguez v. Carlos B. Saenz, M.D., 866 So. 2d 184 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)
    …. In addition, the movant must overcome any reasonable inferences, doubts and conclusions, all of which are to be liberally construed in favor of the party opposing summary judgment. See Johnson v. Studstill, 71 So. 2d 251 (Fla.1954); Smith v. Harr, 571 So. 2d 575 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990). In short, unless the facts are so crystallized that only questions of law remain, summary judgment is inappropriate. See Bess v. 17545 Collins Ave., Inc., 98 So. 2d 490 (Fla.1957); Smith. That is not the case here. We begin wit…
  • Baumann v. Intracoastal Pac. Ltd. P'ship, 619 So. 2d 403 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)
    …he admissible portions of his affidavit in conjunction with Michael Baumann’s affidavit raised material issues of fact concerning the approval of the Ethan Allen lease and Intracoastal’s alleged bad faith in delaying the negotiations. Smith v. Harr, 571 So. 2d 575 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990), rev. denied, 581 So. 2d 1308 (Fla.1991); Humphrys v. Jarrell, 104 So. 2d 404 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958). Moreover, the order was improperly entered before disposition of all matters because the Ethan Allen funds constituted only a porti…

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