GEORGE GOLLSNEIDER AND VIRGINIA M. GOLLSNEIDER, PETITIONERS,
v.
ALMA M. STEIN, RESPONDENT
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Petitioners sought a writ of common law certiorari to review a trial court's discovery order requiring production of income tax returns in a personal injury action. The District Court of Appeal denied the petition, holding that the trial court acted within its jurisdiction and the order did not constitute a fundamental departure from law that would warrant extraordinary relief.
The petition for writ of certiorari is denied because the trial court acted within its jurisdiction and the interlocutory order does not constitute a fundamental departure from the essential requirements of law that would warrant extraordinary relief.
“It has long been the law of the State of Florida that common law certiorari is a discretionary writ and will not ordinarily be issued by an appellate court to review interlocutory orders in a suit at law. Such a writ will only be issued in exceptional cases limited to instances where the lower court acts without or in excess of its jurisdiction”
Establishes the restrictive standard for granting certiorari review of interlocutory discovery orders
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceVirginia M. Gollsneider sued Alma M. Stein for personal injuries from an automobile accident, claiming loss of wage earning capacity as an element of …
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The petitioners bring this petition for common law certiorari to review an interlocutory order of the trial court which granted respondent’s motion requiring production of petitioners’ income tax returns for the years 1963 through 1967.
*629The petitioner, Virginia M. Gollsneider, sued the respondent for personal injuries resulting from an automobile accident. She claimed as an element of damage her loss of wage earning capacity.
The petitioners as husband and wife filed joint income tax returns for the years 1963 through 1967. The trial court ordered the petitioners to produce only the first page of their income tax returns for the years requested. This was apparently done because the other portions of the petitioners’ income tax returns would be immaterial to the plaintiff’s claim for loss of wage earning capacity.
The petitioners' main complaint herein is that the respondent did not show good cause for the production of the returns as is required by R.C.P. 1.350, 30 F.S.A. and further that page one of the returns also contains information as to the husband’s wages and other information not material to the issues involved in the case.
It has long been the law of the State of Florida that common law certiora-ri is a discretionary writ and will not ordinarily be issued by an appellate court to review interlocutory orders in a suit at law. Such a writ will only be issued in exceptional cases limited to instances where the lower court acts without or in excess of its jurisdiction; where the interlocutory order does not conform to the essential requirements of law and may reasonably cause material injury throughout the subsequent proceedings for which the remedy by appeal will be inadequate. Girten v. Bouvier, Fla.App.1963, 155 So.2d 745; Wolf v. Industrial Supply Corp., Fla. 1952, 62 So.2d 30.
It has been held in Florida that copies of income tax returns are not privileged and therefore may be used in state court proceedings where they are relevant. See Fryd Construction Corporation v. Freeman, Fla.App.1966, 191 So.2d 487; Parker v. Parker, Fla.App.1966, 182 So.2d 498.
Under the rules laid down above, we do not feel that the petitioners have met the requirements for the issuance of the extraordinary writ of common law cer-tiorari. The lower court certainly was within the exercise of its jurisdiction. If the interlocutory order was in error it cannot be said to be so flagrant as to constitute a departure from the essential requirements of law. Nor can such error, if any, be held to be fundamental or of such a substantial nature as to reasonably cause material injury to the petitioners throughout the subsequent proceedings.
Petition for writ of certiorari is denied.
LILES, C. J., and HOBSON and MANN, TJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Frank Medina Trading Co. v. Blanco, 553 So. 2d 285 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)…Utility Battery Mfg. Co., 122 Fla. 718, 166 So. 856 (1935); see also Membery v. Hammac, 357 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978) (payroll tax returns discoverable in mechanic’s lien action where amount of labor involved is at issue); Gollsneider v. Stein, 214 So. 2d 628 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968) (personal income tax return discoverable where lost wages at issue). Certiorari granted; order quashed in part.…
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Cabanas v. Ford, 727 So. 2d 1100 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…t. See Blanco, 553 So. 2d at 286 (holding corporate president’s personal tax returns did not have to be produced because they were irrelevant in an action by corporation to recover profits allegedly misdirected by an employee); Gollsneider v. Stein, 214 So. 2d 628, 629 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968) (finding that “copies of income tax returns are not privileged and therefore may be used in state court proceedings where they are relevant.”); Fryd Const. Corp. v. Freeman, 191 So. 2d 487, 489 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966) (same). In t…
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Staglish v. Guerrero, 381 So. 2d 1155 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)…entitlement to a writ of prohibition, and (2) that in the exercise of our discretion we should decline to entertain jurisdiction of the petition for writ of certiorari. Wolf v. Industrial Supply Corp., 62 So. 2d 30 (Fla.1952); Gollsneider v. Stein, 214 So. 2d 628 (Fla.2d DCA 1968).- Accordingly, the petition for prohibition and certiorari are denied.…
Authorities Cited
- Girten v. Bouvier, 155 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963)
- Parker v. Parker, 182 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 1966)
- Wolf v. Indus. Supply Corp., 62 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 1952)
- Fryd Constr. Corp. v. Freeman, 191 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966)