MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY MAYOR CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, PETITIONERS,
v.
DADE COUNTY POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION, RESPONDENT
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Miami-Dade County and Mayor Gimenez sought certiorari to quash a PERC hearing officer's order requiring the Mayor to testify in an unfair labor practice proceeding regarding his legislative vetoes. The Third District Court of Appeal granted the petition, holding that the Mayor's testimony regarding his legislative motives was not subject to discovery and that information was available from other sources.
The court held that the hearing officer's order departed from the essential requirements of law and granted the petition for certiorari. The court ruled that the Mayor's motives for legislative decisions are not subject to judicial scrutiny and cannot be properly discovered, and that Mayor Gimenez should not be compelled to testify when the requested information was readily available from other sources.
[1] Certiorari review is appropriate for orders granting discovery requests that, if wrongfully granted, would cause irreparable harm not correctable on post-judgment appeal.
[2] The motives of government officials in making legislative decisions are generally not subject to judicial scrutiny in unfair labor practice proceedings.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Orders granting discovery requests have traditionally been reviewed by certiorari because once discovery is wrongfully granted, the complaining party is beyond relief.”
Establishes jurisdiction for certiorari review of discovery orders based on irreparable harm doctrine
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Dade County Police Benevolent Association filed an unfair labor practice proceeding and issued subpoenas requiring Mayor Gimenez to testify regard…
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Petitioners, Miami-Dade County (“the County”) and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez (“Mayor Gimenez”), seek a writ of certiorari to quash an order issued by a hearing officer of the Public Employees Relations Commission (“PERC”) denying the petitioners’ motion to quash subpoenas from the Dade County Police Benevolent Association (“PBA”), which require Mayor Gimenez to testify in an unfair labor practice proceeding filed by the PBA, and also denying the petitioners’ motion for a protective order. For the reasons that follow, we grant the petition and quash the order under review.
As the Florida Supreme Court recently explained in Board of Trustees of Internal Improvement Trust Fund v. *238 American Educational Enterprises, LLC, 99 So.3d 450, 454-455 (Fla.2012):
The petitioning party must demonstrate that the contested order constitutes (1) a departure from the essential requirements of the law, (2) resulting in material injury for the remainder of the case[,] (3) that cannot be corrected on post-judgment appeal. A finding that the petitioning party has suffered an irreparable harm that cannot be remedied on direct appeal is a condition precedent to invoking a district court’s certiorari jurisdiction. If the party seeking review does not demonstrate that it will suffer material injury of an irreparable nature, then an appellate court may not grant certiorari relief from a non-appealable non-final order. Similarly, if the alleged harm can be remedied on appeal, the harm is not considered irreparable, and thus certiorari relief is not merited.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted). Therefore, prior to addressing whether the petitioners can demonstrate whether the hearing officer’s order departs from the essential requirements of the law, we must first establish that this Court has jurisdiction.
“Orders granting discovery requests have traditionally been reviewed by certiorari because once discovery is wrongfully granted, the complaining party is beyond relief.” Horne v. Sch. Bd. of Miami-Dade Cnty., 901 So.2d 238, 240 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). As directly applied to Mayor Gimenez, if it is later determined on direct appeal that the hearing officer erroneously ordered Mayor Gimenez to testify in the unfair labor practice proceeding filed by the PBA, at that point, the resulting injury to Mayor Gimenez cannot be remedied on appeal. Further, although not directly relevant in this ease, if this Court were to determine that it does not have jurisdiction to entertain this petition for writ of certio-rari, virtually every legislator in this state could be ordered to testify as to his or her legislative decisions, without any recourse until it is ultimately too late. Such an outcome would detrimentally affect the efficient operation of the legislative branch and government as a whole. Thus, we conclude, as the appellate courts that have granted certiorari review on similar grounds have concluded, that this Court has jurisdiction to address the petitioners’ writ of certiorari. See Horne, 901 So.2d at 240; City of Gainesville v. Scotty’s, Inc., 489 So.2d 1196, 1197 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); Hillsborough Cnty. v. Pinellas Cnty., 425 So.2d 1196 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Manatee Cnty. v. Estech Gen. Chems. Corp., 402 So.2d 75, 76 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981).
As we have concluded that the petitioners’ have satisfied the jurisdictional prongs, we next address whether the hearing officer’s order departs from the essential requirements of the law. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the order departs from the essential requirements of the law.
First, the PBA’s subpoenas improperly seek testimony from Mayor Gimenez as to his motive for his legislative decision to veto resolutions of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners. See, e.g. Rainbow Lighting, Inc. v. Chiles, 707 So.2d 939, 940 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998) (holding that city commissioners’ “motives in adopting ordinances are not subject to judicial scrutiny”); City of Gainesville, 489 So.2d at 1197 (holding that there is a “widely accepted tenet that the motives of municipal commissioners in enacting ordinances of a legislative character are irrelevant and are not the proper subject of judicial inquiry”); Hillsborough Cnty., 425 So.2d at 1197 (“[T]he motive and reasoning of the county commissioners in casting their votes are irrelevant absent a claim of fraud.”); Manatee Cnty., 402 So.2d at 76 (quashing order compelling county commissioner to *239testify as to reasons for disapproving application for development of regional impact because “[t]he motive of the governmental entity in taking action, much less the motive of an individual commission in voting, has no relevance”); see also City of Pompano Beach v. Big Daddy’s, Inc., 375 So.2d 281, 282 (Fla.1979) (“It is a fundamental tenet of municipal law that when a municipal ordinance of legislative character is challenged in court, the motives of the commission and the reasons before it which induced passage of the ordinance are irrelevant.”).
Second, the subpoenas seek to compel Mayor Giménez, a high-ranking government official, to testify as to information that is readily available from other sources, such as from Mayor Gimenez’s written veto statement, the transcripts and/or recordings of Mayor Gimenez’s statements at public hearings, and the testimony of a lower-ranking official. See, e.g., Dep’t of Agric. & Consumer Servs. v. Broward Cnty., 810 So.2d 1056, 1058 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002) (holding that “agency head should not be subject to deposition, over objection, unless and until the opposing parties have exhausted other discovery and can demonstrate that the agency head is uniquely able to provide relevant information which cannot be obtained from other sources”); Home, 901 So.2d at 240 (noting that “[djepartment heads and similarly high-ranking officials should not ordinarily be compelled to testify unless it has been established that the testimony to be elicited is necessary and relevant and unavailable from a lesser ranking officer”) (quoting Halderman v. Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp., 559 F.Supp. 153, 157 (E.D.Pa.1982)). Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of certiorari and quash the order under review.
Petition granted; order quashed.
ROTHENBERG, J., and SCHWARTZ, Senior Judge concur.
(dissenting).
I would deny the petition for a writ of certiorari on the ground that the petitioners have not met their burden of showing irreparable injury. See Bd. of Trs. of Internal Improvement Trust Fund v. Am. Educ. Enters., LLC, 99 So.3d 450 (Fla.2012).
CORTINAS, J.
(dissenting).
I would deny the petition for a writ of certiorari on the ground that the petitioners have not met their burden of showing irreparable injury. See Bd. of Trs. of Internal Improvement Trust Fund v. Am. Educ. Enters., LLC, 99 So. 3d 450 (Fla.2012).
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Stockinger v. Ulrike A. Zeilberger, 152 So. 3d 71 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014)…Nader v. Fla. Dep’t of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 87 So. 3d 712, 721 (Fla.2012). The establishment of irreparable harm is a condition precedent to invoking certiorari jurisdiction. Miami-Dade Cnty. v. Dade Cnty. Police Benevolent Association, 103 So. 3d 236, 238 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012). As explained by this court: If the party seeking review does not demonstrate that it will suffer material injury of an irreparable nature, then an appellate court may not grant certiorari relief from a non-appealable non-fi…
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SEA Coast Fire, Inc. v. Triangle Fire, Inc., 170 So. 3d 804 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014)…irreparable harm, the establishment of which is a condition precedent to invoking certiorari jurisdiction. Nader v. Fla. Dep’t of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 87 So. 3d 712, 721 (Fla.2012); Miami-Dade Cnty. v. Dade Cnty. Police Benevolent Ass’n, 103 So. 3d 236, 238 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012). The disclosure of “cat-out-of-the-bag material” information, such as trade secrets, can constitute irreparable harm. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Cabrera, 112 So. 3d 731, 733 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013). Trade secrets are privileged…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Bd. OF Trs. OF the Internal Improvement Tr. Fund v. Am. Educ. Enters., LLC, 99 So. 3d 450 (Fla. 2012)
- Dep't of Agric. & Consumer Servs. v. Broward Cnty., 810 So. 2d 1056 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)
- Manatee Cnty. v. Estech Gen. Chems. Corp., 402 So. 2d 75 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981)
- Horne v. Sch. Bd. OF Miami-Dade Cnty., 901 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)
- City OF Pompano Beach v. BIG Daddy's, Inc., 375 So. 2d 281 (Fla. 1979)
- Rainbow Lighting, Inc. v. Lawton Chiles, 707 So. 2d 939 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
- City OF Gainesville v. Scotty's, Inc., 489 So. 2d 1196 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
- Hillsborough Cnty. v. Pinellas Cnty., 425 So. 2d 1196 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)