JOHN M. TYSON, APPELLANT,
v.
VIACOM, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2000-06-07
No. 4D99-0517
STEVENSON and HAZOURI, JJ„ concur.
760 So. 2d 276 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2000) Negative Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

John Tyson, a Viacom officer-employee, was fired after writing to a federal court about alleged violations of an injunction against Viacom. Tyson sued under Florida's Whistle Blowers Act, but the court dismissed his claim, holding that court injunctions are not "laws, rules, or regulations" and federal courts are not "agencies" within the Act's meaning.


Holding

An employee's report to a federal court about alleged injunction violations is not protected under the Florida Whistle Blowers Act because: (1) a court injunction is not a "law, rule, or regulation" as defined by the Act; and (2) a federal court is not an "agency" within the statutory meaning, which is limited to government agencies charged with enforcing laws, rules, or regulations.


Headnotes

[1] A federal court injunction is not a "law, rule, or regulation" within the meaning of the Florida Whistleblowers Act.

[2] A federal district court is not an "agency" as defined by the Florida Whistleblowers Act.

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Key Quotes

“The term "law" does not refer to the whole body of law but instead only to positive law.”

Establishes that the statutory definition of "law, rule, or regulation" in the Whistle Blowers Act is limited to positive law (statutes, ordinances, and regulations), not court orders or injunctions.

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Facts & Procedural History

Viacom was subject to an injunction issued by a federal court in Oregon. Tyson, an officer-employee of Viacom, wrote a letter to the federal court all…

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Opinion of the Court
FARMER, J.

FARMER, J.

Viacom was subject to an injunction issued by a federal court in Oregon. Tyson was an officer-employee of Viacom.. He wrote a letter to the federal court contending that Viacom had violated the injunction. Viacom fired him. He sued Viacom in the circuit court in Fort Lauderdale, alleging that the retaliation was a violation of the Florida Whistle Blowers Act. The circuit court dismissed his suit. We affirm. The Act in question bars an employer from retaliating against an employee who has:

“(1) Disclosed, or threatened to disclose, to any appropriate governmental agency, under oath, in writing, ,an activity, policy, or practice of the employer that is in violation of a law, rule, or regulation. However, this subsection does not apply unless the employee has, in writing, brought the activity, policy, or practice to the attention of a supervisor or the employer and has afforded the employer a reasonable opportunity to correct the activity, policy, or practice.

“(2) Provided information to, or testified before, any appropriate governmental agency, person, or entity conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry into an alleged violation of a law, rule, or regulation by the employer. “(3) Objected to, or refused to participate in, any activity, policy, or practice of the employer which is in violation of a law, rule, or regulation.

§ 448.102, Fla. Stat. (1997). Tyson’s claims were based on subsections (2) and (3), and not on subsection (1).

Claims under subsections (2) and (3) are not subject to the prior notice provision contained in the second sentence of subsection (1); the notice provision is limited to claims under subsection (1). See The Golf Channel v. Jenkins, 752 So. 2d 561, 565 (Fla.2000); Baiton v. Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc., 661 So. 2d 313, 316-17 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Judd v. Englewood Community Hosp., 739 So. 2d 627, 628 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (Blue, J., specially concurring). The complaint was not defective in failing to allege prior notice.

The complaint failed to state a cause of action under section 448.102, however, because an injunction is not “a law, rule or regulation” and the federal district court is not an “agency” within the meaning of the Act. The term “law” does not refer to the whole body of law but instead only to positive law. Section 448.101(4) states that the statutory term law, rule, or regulation:

“includes any statute or ordinance or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to any federal, state, or local statute or ordinance applicable to the employer and pertaining to the business.”

In context, the word “includes” is unambiguously one of limitation, not enlargement.

Moreover, in this act, the legislature has defined agency as “any agency of government charged with the enforcement of laws, rules, or regulations governing an activity, policy, or practice of an. employer.” § 448.101(1) Fla. Stat. (1999). The enforcement of laws is a function of the executive branch of government. See Art. IV, •§ 1, Fla. Const. (“The governor shall take, care that the laws be faithfully executed ... ”). Courts are in a separate branch of government and, unless clearly and expressly defined by statute, not embraced by the term “agency.” See also Art. II, § 3, Fla. Const. (“The powers of the state government shall be divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to either of the other branches unless expressly provided her.ein.”). Violations of court orders or injunctions are subject to the contempt powers of a court issuing the injunction— powers that are certainly adequate to their purpose. In using the term “agency” the legislature has given the term a meaning narrower than the whole universe of government.

Consequently, the trial court did not err in dismissing the claim.

AFFIRMED. ‘

STEVENSON and HAZOURI, JJ„ concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Tyson v. Viacom, Inc., 890 So. 2d 1205 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …hout prejudice the claim for breach of contract. Tyson then appealed the trial court’s dismissal of the whistle blower claim to this Court. We affirmed the dismissal of the whistle blower claim by opinion on June 7, 2000. See Tyson v. Viacom, Inc., 760 So. 2d 276 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). In affirming, we held that Tyson’s claim did not satisfy the definitional requirements of the statute.1 On November 22, 2000, Tyson filed a second complaint alleging a claim for breach of contract nearly identical to that in th…
  • Kearns v. Farmer Acquisition Co., 157 So. 3d 458 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)
    …White court also looked to Florida cases that addressed the definition of “law, rule or regulation” in section 448.102(3), such as New World Communications of Tampa, Inc. v. Akre, 866 So. 2d 1231, 1233 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003), and Tyson v. Viacom, Inc., 760 So. 2d 276, 277 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). In the definition section of the FWA it provides that “ ‘[l]aw, rule, or regulation’ includes any statute or ordinance or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant to any federal, state, or local statute or ordinance applica…
  • Curry v. State, 811 So. 2d 736 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
    …. See Brownsville Golden Age Nursing Home, Inc. v. Wells, 839 F. 2d 155, 159 (3d Cir.1988). Similarly, the enforcement of laws is, also a function of the executive branch of government. See Art. IV, § 1, Fla. Const.; see also Tyson v. Viacom, Inc., 760 So. 2d 276, 277 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). As in petitioning administrative agencies, complaints to law enforcement agencies are a protected constitutional activity. The submission of complaints “to nonlegislative and nonjudicial public agencies like a police depart…

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