ELIZABETH C. DEVANEY AND GEORGE H. DEVANEY, HER HUSBAND, APPELLANTS,
v.
BERNARD J. RUMSCH, M.D., MUNROE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, HENRY L. HARRELL, M.D., J. P. MOORE, M.D., AND ALEXANDER GOULARD, M.D., APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 1971-04-01
No. N-148
WIGGINTON and SPECTOR, JJ., concur.
247 So. 2d 69 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1971) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

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Synopsis

Plaintiffs appealed dismissal of their negligence action against four defendants for failure to prosecute. The trial court dismissed the case based on one year of inaction, but the appellate court reversed, finding that activity during the relevant period—including depositions and motions related to a co-defendant—constituted sufficient action to defeat the dismissal motion.


Holding

The court reversed the dismissal order, holding that the pleadings and motions filed during the one-year period—even though they pertained primarily to one defendant—constituted sufficient action to defeat the dismissal motion, particularly because all defendants were joint tortfeasors and the actions taken could affect potential liability of all defendants.


Headnotes

[1] An action is not subject to dismissal for failure to prosecute if any affirmative action has been taken by any party within the statutory period, even if that action prim…

[2] Activity related to one defendant in a joint tortfeasor action can constitute affirmative action for the entire case, preventing dismissal for want of prosecution as to o…

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Key Quotes

“All actions in which it affirmatively appears that no action has been taken by filing of pleadings, order of court or otherwise for a period of one year shall be dismissed by the court on its own motion or on motion of any interested person”

The applicable rule governing dismissal for failure to prosecute that the trial court applied.

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Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiffs filed a negligence complaint on December 29, 1966, against five defendants (four doctors and a hospital) for injuries suffered by the plain…

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Opinion of the Court
CARROLL, DONALD K„ Judge.

CARROLL, DONALD K„ Judge.

The plaintiffs in a negligence action have appealed from an order entered by the Circuit Court for Marion County, dismissing with prejudice for want of prosecution their complaint as to four of the five defendants.

In their complaint, filed on December 29, 1966, the plaintiffs allege a cause of action in negligence against Bernard J. Rumsch, M.D., three other medical doctors, and a hospital, seeking damages for physical injuries and grievous mental and emotional distress and anxiety which the plaintiff wife suffered as a result of the negligent acts of the said defendants.

On May 9, 1968, four of the defendants (not including the defendant Rumsch) filed a motion to dismiss this cause of action for want of prosecution, pursuant to Rule 1.140(e), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, 30 F.S.A., on the ground that the plaintiffs had taken no affirmative action since April 24, 1967.

On February 10, 1970, the Circuit Court entered an order appealed from herein, granting the said motion to dismiss and dismissing with prejudice the plaintiffs’ complaint as to the said four defendants who had filed the motion to dismiss.

Since the said motion so granted by, the court was filed on May 9, 1968, the one-year period of inaction, which is the basis for *70the motion, was the period between May 9, 1967, and May 9, 1968. Examining the record-on-appeal in this cause, however, we find that the following were filed by the parties during the said period: The plaintiffs filed a notice to take the deposition of the defendant Rumsch, serving a copy of the notice upon the latter’s attorney as well as upon the attorney for the defendant hospital; the defendant Rumsch filed a motion to quash the action of service of process and to quash the above notice of taking deposition, as well as a notice of hearing on the said motion to quash, serving a copy of the said notice of hearing upon the attorneys for the plaintiffs and for the defendant hospital.

Rule 1.420(e), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, which is the basis for the order appealed from herein, provides as follows:

"(e) Failure to Prosecute. All actions in which it affirmatively appears that no action has been taken by filing of pleadings, order of court or otherwise for a period of one year shall be dismissed by the court on its own motion or on motion of any interested person, whether a party to the action or not, after reasonable notice to the parties, unless a party shows good cause in writing why the action should remain pending at least five days before the hearing on the motion.”

It is our opinion that the pleadings and order, recited above as having been filed during the period in question, precluded the court from entering the order appealed from dismissing the plaintiffs’ complaint as to the said four defendants. While it is true that the said pleadings and order pertained primarily to the defendant Rumsch, they may well have had a bearing upon the potential liability of the other four defendants. In any event, we think that, in view of the said pleadings and order, it cannot correctly be said that “no action” was taken during the said period.

The essence of the plaintiffs’ argument in this appeal is thus stated in their brief: “The defendants were joint tort feasors and action in the case was action in the case as to all.” We think that this is a sound statement as to the legal situation here.

Incidentally, there was additional activity in this cause during the year immediately preceding the entry of the order appealed from, for the defendant Rumsch filed an interlocutory appeal to this court from an order in this cause, the appellees being the plaintiffs and the other four defendants ; and this court reversed the order in an opinion reported in 218 So.2d 238 (1969). Our order was quashed by the Florida Supreme Court on November 25, 1969, as reported in 228 So.2d 904 (1969).

For the foregoing reasons we hold that the order appealed from should be, and it is, reversed; and this cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with the views hereinabove expressed.

Reversed and remanded with directions.

WIGGINTON and SPECTOR, JJ., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Smith v. ST. George Island Gulf Beaches, Inc., 343 So. 2d 847 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976)
    …efendant within the year was sufficient to foreclose dismissal at the instance of another defendant. Stated another way, plaintiff’s obligation is only to show progress in the case, not progress between himself and each defendant. DeVaney v. Rumsch, 247 So. 2d 69 (Fla.App. 1st, 1971). To be distinguished are decisions which consider as separate and unique the interests of nominal defendants not served with process or otherwise brought within the court’s jurisdiction. Koppers Co., Inc. v. Victoire Devel. Corp…
  • Utset v. Campos, 548 So. 2d 834 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989)
    …403 So. 2d 570 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); Biscayne Constr. Co. v. Metropolitan Dade County, 388 So. 2d 329 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Heimer, 339 So. 2d 284 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 348 So. 2d 948 (Fla.1977); Devaney v. Rumsch, 247 So. 2d 69 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). . This "exception” has also been referred to in dicta in Smith v. St. George Island Gulf Beaches, Inc., 343 So. 2d 847, 849 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976), and Bowman v. Peele, 413 So. 2d 90, 91 (Fla. 2d DCA), dismissed, 419 So. 2d 1199 (…
  • Koenig v. Delotte Haskins & Sells, 474 So. 2d 305 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …l Procedure. See and Compare Eastern Elevator, Inc., v. Page, 263 So. 2d 218 (Fla.1972); Nektaredes v. Sagonias, 432 So. 2d 769 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Marschall v. Water-Boggan International, Inc., 401 So. 2d 1157 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); DeVaney v. Rumsch, 247 So. 2d 69 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971). The order under review dismissing the cause is reversed for further proceedings. Reversed and remanded.…

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