DOUGLAS WALKER, APPELLANT,
v.
JAMES R. MCDONOUGH, ET AL., APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 2006-05-24
No. 4D05-1757
STEVENSON, CJ., and GUNTHER, J., concur.
929 So. 2d 1127 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2006) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Synopsis

Walker appealed the dismissal of his civil complaint against the Florida Departments of Corrections and Insurance for failure to prosecute. The court reversed, holding that multiple filings and notices in the preceding year constituted sufficient record activity to prevent dismissal under the bright-line rule established in Wilson v. Salomon.


Holding

The court held that the trial court erred in dismissing the complaint because notices of address change and a notice of absence from the jurisdiction constitute 'record activity' under the bright-line rule established in Wilson v. Salomon, and therefore the action should not have been dismissed.


Headnotes

[1] A case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute if the record reflects activity within the year preceding the motion to dismiss.

[2] Notices of change of address filed by parties constitute record activity for purposes of avoiding dismissal for failure to prosecute.

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Key Quotes

“if a review of the face of the record does not reflect any activity in the preceding year, the action shall be dismissed, unless a party shows good cause why the action should remain pending; however, if a review of the face of the record reveals activity by "filings of pleadings, order of court, or otherwise," an action should not be dismissed.”

Establishes the bright-line rule from Wilson v. Salomon governing failure to prosecute dismissals

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Facts & Procedural History

Walker filed a second amended complaint naming three individual defendants and two state agencies. The defendants filed various motions to dismiss on …

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Opinion of the Court
MAY, J.

MAY, J.

The plaintiff appeals the dismissal of his second amended complaint against the Departments of Corrections and Insurance for failure to prosecute. He argues the court erred in dismissing the complaint because the record reflects record activity within the year preceding the motion to dismiss. We agree and reverse.1

The plaintiff filed his second amended complaint against three individually named defendants and the Florida Departments of Corrections and Insurance. The individual defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action, entitlement to qualified immunity, entitlement to sovereign immunity, and failure to comply with conditions precedent under section 768.28, Florida Statutes (2003). The agency defendants filed motions to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action and entitlement to sovereign immunity.

The plaintiff filed a response and supplemental response, but no hearings were set on these motions. On April 14, 2004, defense counsel filed a notice of address change. On July 14, 2004, defense counsel filed a notice of absence from the court’s jurisdiction. On July 30, 2004, the plaintiff filed a notice of address change.

On September 14, 2004, the agency defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute, pursuant to rule 1.420(e), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Ten days later, the plaintiff filed a response to the motion. The court set a telephonic hearing on the motion for October 28, 2004, but the plaintiff was unable to attend. The court again set a telephonic hearing at which the plaintiff appeared. The court entered an order granting the motion to dismiss. The plaintiff filed a motion for rehearing, which the trial court denied on March 16, 2005.

On appeal, the plaintiff argues the court erred in granting the motion to dismiss because there were other outstanding motions. While this argument has no merit, a relatively recent decision of the Florida Supreme Court controls the outcome in this appeal. See Wilson v. Salomon, 923 So. 2d 363 (Fla.2005). In Wilson, our supreme court established a bright-line rule for motions to dismiss for failure to prosecute.

[I]f a review of the face of the record does not reflect any activity in the preceding year, the action shall be dismissed, unless a party shows good cause why the action should remain pending; however, if a review of the face of the record reveals activity by “filings of pleadings, order of court, or otherwise,” an action should not be dismissed.

Id. at 368.

Applying this bright-line rule, the two notices of change of address and defense counsel’s notice of absence from the jurisdiction are record activity in the year preceding the motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute. Consequently, the court erred in granting the motion. Because the trial court did not consider the other bases for the motion to dismiss, we do not address them here, but remand the case to the trial court for consideration.

Reversed and Remanded.

STEVENSON, CJ., and GUNTHER, J., concur. . We note the trial court did not have the benefit of Wilson v. Salomon, 923 So. 2d 363 (Fla.2005), at the time of rendering its decision.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Weston TC LLLP v. CNDP Mktg. Inc., 66 So. 3d 370 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)
    …ntly cancelled); Reddy v. Farkus, 933 So. 2d 595 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (a notice of cancellation of a hearing on a summary judgment motion); Cisko v. Phoenix Med. Prods., Inc., 930 So. 2d 853 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (an interrogatory); Walker v. McDonough, 929 So. 2d 1127 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (two notices of change of address, one from each side, and defense counsel’s notice of absence); Richards v. Sheriff of Palm Beach Cnty., 925 So. 2d 1166 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (a motion by an attorney to withdraw and the order gran…
  • Mourning v. Ballast Nedam Constr., Inc., 964 So. 2d 889 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)
    …ding that they lacked the specificity required by Rule 1.442(c)(2)(D), and cited to a predecessor case to Lamb, Swartsel v. Publix Super Markets, Inc., 882 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004). Id. at 15. The eighth bright-line case, Walker v. McDonough, 929 So. 2d 1127 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006), again dealt with Rule 1.420(e). In Walker, this Court reversed an order dismissing a case for lack of prosecution, finding sufficient activity on the face of the record during the relevant time period (two notices of change of a…
  • Norman v. Wyndel G. Darville & Off. of State Attorney, 964 So. 2d 864 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007)
    …one year prior to the filing of a motion to dismiss precludes the entry of dismissal for failure to prosecute. See Reddy v. Farkus, 933 So. 2d 595, 598 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (notice of cancellation of hearing precludes dismissal); Walker v. McDonough, 929 So. 2d 1127, 1128 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (notice of change of address and notice of absence from jurisdiction preclude dismissal); Hunnewell v. Palm Beach County, 925 So. 2d 468, 470 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (entry of order denying motion to dismiss precludes dismissal…

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