CARLA RUIZ AND ANTONIO RUIZ, HER HUSBAND, APPELLANTS,
v.
AEROREP GROUP CORP. D/B/A AEROPOSTAL, APPELLEES

Fla. 3d DCA | 2006-11-08
No. 3D05-1460
Before RAMIREZ, ROTHENBERG, and LAGOA, JJ.
941 So. 2d 505 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2006) Caution
Cited by 20 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

Carla Ruiz, an employee of Aeropostal, appealed the dismissal of her claims for violation of Florida's Private Sector Whistleblower's Act and battery after her supervisor pushed her and she reported the incident to law enforcement. The court affirmed the dismissal, finding that the Whistleblower's Act claim was abandoned when not reasserted in the amended complaint, and the battery claim was barred by workers' compensation immunity.


Holding

The court affirmed the dismissal of both claims. The Whistleblower's Act claim was properly dismissed because it was abandoned when not reasserted in the second amended complaint, and even if preserved, the complaint failed to allege that Espinosa committed the battery with the purpose of benefiting Aeropostal's interests. The battery claim was properly dismissed because the injury arose within the course and scope of employment, entitling Aeropostal to workers' compensation immunity.


Headnotes

[1] A claim under the Whistleblower's Act is abandoned and cannot be resurrected on appeal if it is not reasserted in a subsequent amended complaint.

[2] An employer is not liable for an employee's intentional tort unless the employee committed the tort while acting within the course and scope of employment with the purpos…

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

Key Quotes

“By failing to reassert a claim for a Whistleblower's Act violation in the second amended complaint, the Ruizes abandoned the claim and cannot resurrect it on appeal.”

Establishes that failure to include a claim in an amended complaint constitutes abandonment and prevents appellate review.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Carla Ruiz, an Aeropostal employee, was pushed by her supervisor Jimmy Espinosa on July 4, 2004, causing her to strike her abdominal area against a co…

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
ROTHENBERG, Judge.

ROTHENBERG, Judge.

Carla Ruiz and Antonio Ruiz appeal an order dismissing their claims against Aero-rep Group Corp. d/b/a Aeropostal (“Aero-postal”) for failure to state a cause of action. We affirm.

Carla Ruiz was an employee of Aeropos-tal. She alleges that on July 4, 2004, while she was working, her supervisor, Jimmy Espinosa, pushed her and caused her to strike her abdominal area against a counter. She alleges that she reported this incident to various managers and to Aero-postal’s human resources department, verbally and in writing, but they took no corrective measures or disciplinary action against Espinosa. Mrs. Ruiz claims that, although Aeropostal changed Espinosa’s schedule so that he did not work while she was working on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Aeropostal scheduled him to work with her on Sundays. She further alleges that when she went to work on the Sunday after the incident, Espinosa verbally abused and threatened her, and that when she reported this to a manager the next day, she was told that nothing further would be done. Mrs. Ruiz reported Espi-nosa’s alleged battery to law enforcement, which conducted an investigation of the incident.

On July 29, 2004, Aeropostal terminated Mrs. Ruiz’s employment.

Subsequently, the Ruizes filed a complaint, which included a count alleging a cause of action under Florida’s Private Sector Whistleblower’s Act, § 448.101, et seq., Fla. Stat. (2003)(“Whistleblower’s Act”).

The trial court dismissed this count, and the Ruizes filed an amended complaint also setting forth a count alleging a Whistleblower’s Act violation.

The trial court again dismissed the count alleging a Whistleblower’s Act violation. The Ruizes filed a second amended complaint, which omitted a Whistleblower’s Act violation claim and instead, added a claim against Aeropostal for battery, based upon the principles of respondeat superior and employer ratification.

The trial court dismissed this claim with prejudice. The complaint and each of the amended complaints contained a derivative count on behalf of Mr. Ruiz for loss of consortium, which the trial court also dismissed. The Ruizes do not appeal the dismissal of their derivative claim, but do appeal the dismissal of their claims alleging a violation of the Whistleblower’s Act and battery.

“Because a ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action is an issue of law, it is reviewable on appeal by the de novo standard of review.” Susan Fixel, Inc. v. Rosenthal & Rosenthal, Inc., 842 So. 2d 204, 205 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003).

Because we conclude that the Ruizes have not properly preserved for review the dismissal of their Whistleblower’s Act cause of action, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of this count. The Ruizes’ initial and first amended complaints alleging a cause of action under the Whistleblower’s Act were superseded by the second amended complaint, which did not allege a cause of action under the Whistleblower’s Act and did not indicate an intention to preserve any part of the prior complaints. See Arthur v. Hillsborough County Bd. of Criminal Justice, 588 So. 2d 236, 237 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991); Downtown Invs., Ltd. v. Segall, 551 So. 2d 561, 562 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989), review denied, 563 So. 2d 633 (Fla.1990).

By failing to reassert a claim for a Whistleblower’s Act violation in the second amended complaint, the Ruizes abandoned the claim and cannot resurrect it on appeal. Arthur, 588 So. 2d at 237.

We additionally conclude that even if the Ruizes had preserved for appellate review the dismissal of their Whistleblower’s Act claim, we would affirm the trial court’s ruling because we agree that the complaint and amended complaint did not allege a valid cause of action under the Whistleblower’s Act. The Whistleblower’s Act prohibits an employer from taking any retaliatory action against an employee for providing information to a governmental agency investigating a violation by the employer of a law, rule, or regulation. See § 448.102, Fla. Stat. (2003); Sussan v. Nova Se. Univ., 723 So. 2d 933 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).

In the instant case, the amended complaint alleged that Jimmy Espinosa, an employee of Aeropostal, not Mrs. Ruiz’s employer, committed a battery upon her. Although an employer may be responsible for the actions of an employee under certain circumstances, those circumstances have not been alleged in the instant case. An employer is responsible for an intentional tort committed by an employee if the employee committed the tort while acting within the course and scope of his employment, with the purpose of benefiting the interests of the employer. Cowan v. Bay County, 744 So. 2d 1136, 1138 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Bryant v. CSX Transp., Inc., 577 So. 2d 613, 615 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Tallahassee Furniture Co., Inc. v. Harrison, 583 So. 2d 744, 758 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); Perez v. Zazo, 498 So. 2d 463, 465 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986).

As the amended complaint in the instant case failed to set forth any factual allegation supporting that Mrs. Ruiz’s co-employee battered Mrs. Ruiz with the purpose of benefiting the interests of Aeropostal, the trial court was correct in dismissing their claims alleging a Whistleblower’s Act violation.

The trial court also did not err in dismissing the Ruizes’ battery claim against Aeropostal in the second amended complaint which was premised on the theories of respondeat superior and ratification. The second amended complaint specifically alleged that Espinosa’s battery of Mrs. Ruiz occurred within the course and scope of their employment. When an employee’s injury arises out of the course and scope of his or her employment, worker’s compensation is the exclusive remedy for the injury, and the employer is provided with immunity from any other liability for the injury. FCCI Ins. Co. v. Home, 890 So. 2d 1141, 1143 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004); Lovin Mood, Inc. v. Bush, 687 So. 2d 61, 62 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997).

While there are exceptions to worker’s compensation immunity, there are no allegations in the second amended complaint supporting the applicability of any of the exceptions. Although workers’ compensation immunity usually cannot be raised in a motion to dismiss, an exception exists allowing the defense to be raised in a motion to dismiss where the defense appears on the face of the complaint. Roberts v. Cadco Builders, Inc., 694 So. 2d 845, 846 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997); Gen. Cinema Beverages of Miami v. Mortimer, 689 So. 2d 276, 277-78 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995).

Therefore, pursuant to the allegations set forth in the second amended complaint, because Aeropostal was entitled to worker’s compensation immunity for Mrs. Ruiz’s battery, the trial court properly dismissed their battery claim against Aeropostal.

Affirmed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (11 total)

  • Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. Calonge, 246 So. 3d 447 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)
    …40.11 of the Workers' Compensation Act is an affirmative defense which cannot be raised by a motion to dismiss unless the allegations of a prior pleading in the case demonstrate the existence of such a defense"); see also Ruiz v. Aerorep Grp. Corp., 941 So. 2d 505, 508 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006) ("Although workers' compensation immunity usually cannot be raised in a motion to dismiss, an exception exists allowing the defense to be raised in a motion to dismiss where the defense appears on the face of the complaint.")…
  • Coastal Masonry, Inc. v. Bayardo Gutierrez, 30 So. 3d 545 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)
    …t’s judgment. Affirmed. . Pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(3)(C)(v), we have jurisdiction. . See § 440.11(1), Fla. Slat. (2006); Cabrera v. T.J. Pavement Corp., 2 So. 3d 996 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008); Ruiz v. Aerorep Group Corp., 941 So. 2d 505, 507-08 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006); Byer-ley v. Citrus Publ'g, Inc., 725 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); Francoeur v. Pipers, Inc., 560 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990). . We find Coastal's argument that it denied the claim because the injury arose from pree…
  • Nidia Juarez v. NEW Branch Corp., 67 So. 3d 1159 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011)
    …llege that the university ratified the illegal conduct of its employees). She also provided no evidence that the battery was committed within the scope of Erazo’s employment or in furtherance of New Branch’s business. See Ruiz v. Aerorep Grp. Corp., 941 So. 2d 505, 508 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006) (affirming dismissal of Ruiz’s FWBA claim where the complaint failed to allege that Ruiz’s co-employee battered her with the purpose of benefitting the interests of the employer). We therefore conclude that summary judgment…

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 (13 total)

View all 13 cited authorities →

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw