THE FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION, INC., A NON-PROFIT CORPORATION, AND JAMES JONES, AS PRINCIPAL OF ELY HIGH SCHOOL, APPELLANTS,
v.
NICHOLIAN ADDERLY, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1990-11-16
No. 90-3043
DOWNEY, ANSTEAD and WARNER, JJ., concur.
574 So. 2d 158 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1990) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 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.


Holding

The trial court erred in issuing a temporary injunction because the party seeking it failed to demonstrate a clear legal right, specifically a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.


Headnotes

[1] A party seeking a temporary injunction must demonstrate irreparable harm, a clear legal right, an inadequate remedy at law, and that the injunction serves the public inte…

[2] A clear legal right for injunctive relief requires proof of a reasonable certainty of success on the merits.

Previewing 2 of 4 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

Facts & Procedural History

A high school football player was ruled ineligible by the Florida High School Activities Association. The trial court granted a temporary injunction a…

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.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal of an order granting the temporary injunction thereby permitting appellee to participate as a football player in games played by Ely High School for the remainder of this season, although having been ruled ineligible by appellant. The order states:

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that this Court, acting as a court of equity, hereby holds that the Plaintiff’s prayer for a temporary injunction is granted. The Defendants, THE FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION, INC. and JAMES JONES, as principal of Ely High School, and any individual or entity in active participation with the Defendants, are temporarily and immediately enjoined from enforcing any rule or regulation that would prohibit the participation of NICHOLIAN ADDERLY in the remaining 1990-91 high school football season, including any potential championship games pending further Order of this Court.

While this Court finds that under the specific circumstances of this case irrepa- rabie harm to this Petitioner is likely to occur if this temporary injunction is not granted, the Court further finds that the FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION did not procedurally deny the Petitioner his Due Process rights, nor is there a substantial likelihood that NICHOLIAN ADDERLY will prevail at a permanent injunction hearing on his Equal Protection argument. However, this Order pertains only to the instant temporary injunction and does not affect NICHOLIAN ADDERLY’S right to petition for a hearing on the permanent injunction prayed for in his complaint.

A party seeking a temporary injunction must show that (1) he will suffer irreparable harm, (2) he has a clear legal right, (3) he has an inadequate remedy at law and (4) a temporary injunction serves the public interest. Playpen South, Inc. v. City of Oakland Park, 396 So. 2d 830 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); Dania Jai Alai International, Inc. v. Murua, 375 So. 2d 57 (Fla. 4th DCA 1979). In City of Fort Lauderdale v. Canary, 546 So..2d 1114 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989), this court stated:

[Ajppellees have failed to demonstrate a “substantial likelihood of success on the merits” as this Court demanded in Playpen South, Inc. v. City of Oakland Park, 396 So. 2d 830, 831 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). As a result, appellees have failed to demonstrate a clear legal right which “is met by proof of a reasonable certainty” of success on the merits. Zimmerman v. D.C.A. at Welleby, Inc., 505 So. 2d 1371, 1373 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987). Therefore, because appellees did not meet the clear legal right requirement, the trial court erred in issuing the temporary injunction.

546 So. 2d at 1117.

In this case the trial court found that appellee would suffer irreparable harm if he was not permitted to play football. At the same time the trial court found that there was no deprivation of due process and that it was unlikely appellee would prevail on the merits of his equal protection claim. Thus, the order was fundamentally erroneous on its face and cannot be upheld where the order itself shows that appellee is not entitled to injunctive relief. Cf. Seashore Club of Atlantic City v. Tessler, 405 So. 2d 767 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981).

Appellee claims that we should not consider this appeal without the presentation of the transcript of proceedings. In a non-final appeal only an appendix is required. Fla.R.App.P. 9.130(d). While a transcript would be required to show reversible error where the order on its face is not clearly in error, we fail to see, and appellee has not indicated to us, how the transcript of proceedings could cure the fundamental errors in the order itself.

The trial court was obviously sympathetic to the plight of this young athlete and attempted to exercise “equitable” power for appellee’s benefit. However, the first principle of equity jurisdiction is that equity follows the law. “Courts of equity simply have no power to issue rulings which they consider to be in the best interest of justice without regard to established law.” Bank of South Palm Beaches v. Stockton, 473 So. 2d 1358, 1361 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). Here the trial court clearly ignored established principles of law in granting the injunction. .Because of this we must reverse and remand with directions to dissolve the temporary injunction entered and for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. We also order that no petition for rehearing will be entertained and the mandate shall issue instanter. DOWNEY, ANSTEAD and WARNER, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • FAY v. Craig, 99 So. 3d 981 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)
    …all. See, e.g., Bowen v. Taylor-Christensen, 98 So. 3d 136 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012) (limited transcript appropriate where sole issue on appeal from wrongful death trial was vicarious liability of title holder); Fla. High Sch. Activities Ass’n v. Adderly, 574 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990) (no transcript necessary where error is on face of injunction order). Our decision to deny the motion should not be viewed as a determination that Appellant has met his burden to furnish the necessary record. To a large extent a…
  • COE v. Abdo, 790 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
    …ishment, when awarding prejudgment interest. See Argonaut Ins. Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212, 215 (Fla.1985); Miller v. Transflorida Bank, 656 So. 2d 1364, 1367-69 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); see also Fla. High School Activities Ass’n v. Adderly, 574 So. 2d 158, 159 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)(equity follows the law). In the instant case, to avoid discovery into his financial condition, the husband stipulated prior to trial that he would neither plead nor prove that the wife’s delay in releasing the mortgages and…
  • Uro-Care, P.A. v. Barbara Montford, M.D., 775 So. 2d 380 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)
    …646 So. 2d 801 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994); 3299 N. Fed. Highway, Inc. v. Board of County Comm’rs of Broward County, 646 So. 2d 215 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), review dismissed, 699 So. 2d 690 (Fla.1997); Florida High School Activities Association, Inc. v. Adderly, 574 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Langford v. Rotech Oxygen & Medical Equip., Inc., 541 So. 2d 1267 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989). Affirmed.…

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw