HAROLD AND SARA SCHEFF, PETITIONERS,
v.
BERTHA MAYO, RESPONDENT
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A plaintiff seeking mental anguish damages in a motor vehicle accident case waives the psychotherapist-patient privilege regarding their mental condition.
Respondent sued petitioners for damages, including mental anguish, after a car accident. Petitioners sought discovery of respondent's psychological re…
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PER CURIAM.
Harold and Sara Scheff petition this court for a writ of certiorari seeking to reverse an order granting a motion for protective order pertaining to respondent Bertha Mayo’s psychological records. We grant the writ and direct the trial court to allow the petitioners to obtain discovery as to the respondent’s psychiatric treatment.
Respondent Bertha Mayo was involved in a rear-end motor vehicle accident with a car driven by petitioner Sara Scheff, and owned by her father, Harold Scheff. The respondent filed suit against the petitioners seeking, inter alia, damages for mental anguish.
A plaintiff who seeks mental anguish damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident has “made his post-accident mental or emotional condition an element of his negligence claim” and cannot invoke the psychotherapist-patient privilege. Arzola v. Reigosa, 534 So. 2d 883 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988). The respondent is not entitled to invoke the psychotherapist-patient privilege because she has placed her mental condition at issue. See Arzola v. Reigosa, 534 So. 2d at 883; Yoho v. Lindsley, 248 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). Therefore we grant the petition for writ of certiorari, quash the order below, and direct the trial court to permit the pretrial discovery of the respondent’s psychiatric records.
Certiorari granted; order quashed.
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Nelson v. Womble, 657 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)…fense, it would be inimical to the interests of justice to deny the adverse party an opportunity to introduce relevant evidence concerning that mental or emotional condition. Charles Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 501.1 (1995 ed). In Scheff v. Mayo, 645 So. 2d 181,182 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), it was held: A plaintiff who seeks mental anguish damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident has “made his post-accident mental or emotional condition an element of his negligence claim” and cannot invoke the psychother…
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Bandorf v. Volusia Cnty. Dep't OF Corr. & Cnty. of Volusia, 939 So. 2d 249 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)…he defendant’s negligence (in the case of a plaintiff in a negligence action) or from an industrial injury (in the case of a claimant in a workers’ compensation case), see, e.g., Nelson v. Womble, 657 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995), Scheff v. Mayo, 645 So. 2d 181 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), Sykes v. St. Andrews School, 619 So. 2d 467 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), the exception does not apply merely because symptoms the plaintiff or claimant associates with a physical injury are of a type which might arguably be associated wi…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Jess Yoho v. Lindsley, 248 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971)
- Arzola v. Reigosa, 534 So. 2d 883 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)