CITY OF LAKE MARY, APPELLANT,
v.
SHERRI FRANKLIN, F/K/A SHERRI GLISSON, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1996-03-01
No. 95-0232
GRIFFIN, J., concurs., HARRIS, J., concurs and concurs specially, with opinion.
668 So. 2d 712 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1996) Caution
Cited by 22 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

This case concerns the appealability of an order denying a motion for summary judgment based on disputed material facts in a workers' compensation immunity context.


Holding

An order denying a motion for summary judgment based on disputed material facts is not subject to appeal, even in a workers' compensation immunity case, unless the trial court determines immunity does not exist as a matter of law.


Headnotes

[1] An order denying a motion for summary judgment on the issue of workers' compensation immunity is an appealable non-final order under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9…

[2] Failure to timely appeal an order denying a motion for summary judgment on the issue of workers' compensation immunity deprives the appellate court of jurisdiction over a…

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

The trial court denied the City of Lake Mary's motion for summary judgment regarding workers' compensation immunity. The appellate court reviewed the …

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
ON MOTION FOR REHEARING ANTOON, Judge.

ANTOON, Judge.

We withdraw the opinion filed December 22, 1995, and substitute the following in its stead. The City of Lake Mary (City) appeals the trial court’s order denying its motion for summary judgment, and alternatively the City seeks review of the trial court’s order denying its requested jury instruction on the issue of workers’ compensation immunity under section 440.11, Florida Statutes (Supp.1990). Because this appeal is untimely as to the order denying summary judgment, and because the denial of a requested jury instruction is not an appealable order, this court lacks jurisdiction, and this appeal must be dismissed.

On May 23, 1991, Sherri Franklin (Franklin), a police officer, and Berrios, a volunteer firefighter, were operating vehicles owned by the City’s Department of Public Safety when they collided, causing injury to Franklin. Following the collision, Franklin filed a workers’ compensation claim with the City. The claim was settled and the Judge of Compensation Claims approved the settlement, releasing the City from further liability for workers’ compensation benefits.

After the workers’ compensation settlement order was entered, Franklin sued the City for negligence. The City filed a motion for summary judgment on the grounds that it was entitled to judgment in its favor on the basis of immunity because workers’ compensation was Franklin’s exclusive remedy pursuant to section 440.11. This motion was denied by written order on April 7, 1994, without explanation. No appeal was taken from the summary judgment order, and nothing more was heard regarding this issue until the pretrial conference on January 18, 1995.

At the conference, the City requested that the trial court issue a jury instruction concerning the workers’ compensation immunity issue. On January 20, 1995, the court entered its written order ruling that the City was not entitled to the immunity instruction. This appeal ensued.

The trial court’s order ruling upon the City’s request for a jury instruction is not a non-final order for which an interlocutory appeal may be taken under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130. The real question thus becomes whether the City’s failure to appeal the trial court’s earlier order denying the City’s motion for summary judgment on the immunity issue has deprived this court of jurisdiction over the instant appeal. We conclude that it has.

Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(3)(C)(vi) permits review of non-final orders which determine “that a party is not entitled to workers’ compensation immunity as a matter of law.”1 In Ross v. Baker, 632 So. 2d 224 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), the court applied this rule, explaining:

It seems unusual to treat an order denying a motion as an order “determining” an issue. At least in some instances, such orders may merely establish that the trial court currently views the issue of immunity to involve unresolved factual questions as well as legal questions. Nevertheless, we consider that the Supreme Court intends for this court to review this type of order. Id. at 225 (emphasis added).

In the instant case, the trial court’s denial of the summary judgment determined that the City was not entitled to the workers’ compensation immunity defense as a matter of law. The City argues that Rule 9.130 permits interlocutory review only of orders determining once and for all that there is no workers’ compensation immunity and that the rule does not permit review of orders merely determining that the applicability of workers’ compensation immunity as an issue of fact. However, the court in Breakers Palm Beach, Inc. v. Gloger, 646 So. 2d 237 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), specifically rejected this argument. In Breakers, the fourth district determined that an order denying a motion for summary judgment because there were issues of fact concerning immunity is an order determining that the defendant is not entitled to workers’ compensation immunity as a matter of law and, therefore, such an order is appealable under Rule 9.130(a)(3)(C)(vi). Id. at 237. We agree with this conclusion.

Thus, the instant appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because the trial court’s April 7,1994 order denying the City’s motion for summary judgment was an appealable non-final order, and the City failed to appeal the ruling within thirty days. Fi-breboard Corp. v. Ward, 455 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984). This, however, is not to be construed as a limitation of the City’s right to direct appeal.

DISMISSED.

GRIFFIN, J., concurs.

HARRIS, J., concurs and concurs specially, with opinion.

. Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(3)(C) was amended by the addition of subsection (vi) in Mandico v. Taos Construction, Inc., 605 So. 2d 850 (Fla.1992).

Concurrence
HARRIS, Judge,

HARRIS, Judge,

concurring specially.

I do not agree with Ross v. Baker, 632 So. 2d 224 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), or The Breakers Palm Beach, Inc. v. Gloger, 646 So. 2d 237 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), that Mandico v. Taos Construction, 605 So. 2d 850 (Fla.1992), stands for the proposition that an order denying a motion for summary judgment because of disputed material facts, even in a case involving workers’ compensation immunity, is subject to appeal.

In Mandico, the supreme court was responding to a certified question which presented the issue of workers’ compensation immunity as one that was truly a “matter of law.” Because the Mandico court was concerned about the early resolution of “controlling issues,” it amended the rule on non-final appeals to include “non-final orders ... which ... determine ... that a party is not entitled to workers’ compensation immunity as a matter of law.”1

An order delaying a decision on the issue until disputed issues of fact can be determined simply does not determine that a party is not entitled to workers’ compensation immunity as a matter of law or otherwise. I believe that Mandico only permits appeals of orders denying summary judgment when the judge, based on uncontroverted facts, finds that workers’ compensation immunity does not exist.

I concur in the result of this appeal because, although the trial court did not indicate in its order or in the record the basis of its ruling, a review of that portion of the record before us (primarily the City’s motion and the argument) convinces me that the court ruled that immunity did not exist as a matter of law because the two employees were performing separate functions at the time of the accident.

. Fla.Rule App.P. 9.130(a)(3).


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • Reeves v. Fleetwood Homes OF Fla., Inc., 889 So. 2d 812 (Fla. 2004)
    …from the district courts of appeal that had broadly interpreted the rule and had allowed review of nonfinal orders denying summary judgment when the denial was the result of the existence of disputed facts. See, e.g., City of Lake Mary v. Franklin, 668 So. 2d 712, 714 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996); Breakers Palm Beach, Inc. v. Gloger, 646 So. 2d 237, 237-38 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). We have held that “[t]he thrust of rule 9.130 is to restrict the number of appealable nonfinal orders.” Travelers Ins. Co. v. Bruns, 443 So.…
  • …ion (a)(3)(C)(vi) moves the phrase “as a matter of law” from the end of the subdivision to its beginning. This is to resolve the confusion evidenced in Breakers Palm Beach v. Gloger, 646 So. 2d 237 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), City of Lake Mary v. Franklin, 668 So. 2d 712 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996), and their progeny by clarifying that this subdivision was not intended to grant a right of nonfinal review if the lower tribunal denies a motion for summary judgment based on the existence of a material fact dispute. Subdivisio…
  • Hastings v. Demming, 694 So. 2d 718 (Fla. 1997)
    …e have for review Hastings v. Demming, 682 So. 2d 1107 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), in which the district court certified conflict with the opinions in Breakers Palm Beach, Inc. v. Gloger, 646 So. 2d 237 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) and City of Lake Mary v. Franklin, 668 So. 2d 712 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). This case is concerned with the scope of the district courts’ authority to review nonfinal orders denying summary judgment in the context of workers’ compensation immunity claims. The district court, in addition to certifying co…

Previewing 3 of 11 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