WAYNE P. CASTELLO, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF KRISTINA HEPP, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
PARTNERSHIP FOR STRONG FAMILIES, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 2013-06-13
No. 1D12-5771
CLARK, MARSTILLER, and SWANSON, JJ„ concur.
117 So. 3d 62 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2013)

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Synopsis

In this wrongful death case, the Estate of Kristina Hepp sued Partnership for Strong Families (PSF) for negligent failure to investigate her father's fitness as a caregiver. The Florida appellate court affirmed summary judgment in PSF's favor, holding that statutory language expressly shields lead community-based providers from tort liability for their subcontractors' acts or omissions.


Holding

PSF cannot be held liable in tort for the alleged negligence of its subcontractor's employee under Florida Statute section 409.1671(1)(h), which expressly provides that lead community-based providers are not liable for the acts or omissions of subcontractors or their officers, agents, or employees. The court affirmed on this statutory basis without addressing the alternative grounds regarding duty or proximate cause.


Headnotes

[1] A lead community-based provider is not liable in tort for the acts or omissions of its subcontractors or their employees under Florida Statutes section 409.1671(1)(h).

[2] The plain and unambiguous language of a statute will be applied according to its unequivocal meaning.

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Key Quotes

“The lead community-based provider shall, not be liable in tort for the acts or omissions of its subcontractors or the officers, agents, or employees of its subcontractors.”

The statutory provision that provided the basis for affirming summary judgment and barring PSF's liability for its subcontractor's employee's negligence.

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Facts & Procedural History

Kristina Hepp was adjudicated dependent in March 2007. From July 2007 to January 2008, PSF's subcontractor Devereaux provided case management services…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Wayne Castello, as personal representative of the Estate of Kristina Hepp (“Appellant”), filed a wrongful death suit against Partnership for Strong Families, Inc. (“PSF”), seeking damages for Kristina Hepp’s death at the hands of her father, Matthew Roland. PSF is the lead community-based provider of foster care and related services in several counties in Florida, under a contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families (“Department”). Kristina was adjudicated dependent on March 8, 2007, and remained so until January 9, 2008, when the dependency court terminated protective supervision and jurisdiction. From July 1, 2007, to January 9, 2008, PSF’s subcontractor, Devereaux Foundation (“Devereaux”), was responsible for providing case management services. The assigned case manager was Mary Simmons, a Devereaux employee.

In the wrongful death complaint, Appellant alleged that PSF and its agent or employee, Simmons, negligently failed to investigate Roland as part of their case management responsibilities, when they knew or should have known Roland was unfit to care for Kristina. The court below resolved the lawsuit by summary judgment in PSF’s favor, concluding that under section 409.1671(1)(h), Florida Statutes (2007), PSF is not liable in tort for the alleged negligence of its subcontractor’s employee. The court also determined, alternatively, that neither PSF nor Simmons owed Kristina a legal duty once the court terminated protective supervision,1 and that the alleged negligence could not be the proximate cause of Kristina’s death because Roland’s acts were not foreseeable. Reviewing the lower court’s decision de novo, 2 we concur with its reading of *64section 409.1671(1)(h), and affirm the summary judgment on that basis.

Section 409.1671(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2007), authorizes the Department to outsource provision of foster care and related services to community-based entities, like PSF, and sets forth the array of services, including case management, such entities are expected to provide. Subsection (1)(h) expressly provides, “The lead community-based provider shall, not be liable in tort for the acts or omissions of its subcontractors or the officers, agents, or employees of its subcontractors.” § 409.1671(1)(h), Fla. Stat. (2007). Here, the uncontrovert-ed evidence in the record established that Devereaux, PSF’s subcontractor, provided case management services in Kristina’s dependency case during the pertinent period, and that Simmons, the case manager, is Devereaux’s employee. Thus, under the plain and unambiguous language of section 409.1671(1)(h), PSF cannot be held liable for Simmons’ alleged negligence in performing her case management duties. See W. Florida Reg’l Med. Ctr., Inc. v. See, 79 So.3d 1, 9 (Fla.2012) (“If [statutory] language is clear and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning, this Court will apply that unequivocal meaning[.]”).

AFFIRMED.

CLARK, MARSTILLER, and SWANSON, JJ„ concur.


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