THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY, AND THE SATURDAY EVENING POST COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
ROBERT BADER, ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF AND ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, APPELLEES
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Curtis Publishing Company and The Saturday Evening Post Company appealed orders denying their motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought by a subscriber claiming damages for partial failure of consideration due to publication termination. The Florida District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that individual class members' small damage claims ($3.95 each) cannot be aggregated to satisfy the circuit court's $5,000 minimum jurisdictional requirement.
The court held that small individual damage claims of class plaintiffs cannot be aggregated to satisfy the circuit court's $5,000 jurisdictional minimum, and therefore the trial court erred in denying the defendants' motion to dismiss and motion to transfer.
[1] A circuit court lacks jurisdiction over a class action lawsuit when the individual claims of the purported class members, when aggregated, do not meet the minimum jurisdi…
[2] A trial court errs in denying a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction based on insufficient aggregated claims in a class action.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The ruling of the trial court on the jurisdictional question was error, and we reverse on authority of State ex rel. City of West Palm Beach v. Chillingworth (1930) 100 Fla. 489, 129 So. 816; Wilson v. First National Bank of Miami Springs (Fla.App.1971) 254 So. 2d 362.”
Establishes the court's holding that aggregating small individual claims to meet jurisdictional minimums violates established precedent.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRobert Bader, a prepaid subscriber to The Saturday Evening Post, filed a class action in circuit court seeking $3.95 in damages on behalf of himself a…
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The appellee, alleging partial failure of consideration by reason of the termination of publication of The Saturday Evening Post during the period of his prepaid subscription and claiming damages therefor in the amount of $3.95, filed a civil (law) action in the circuit court of Dade County for recovery thereof, for himself and for all other such subscribers in the United States similarly situated.
Defendants moved to dismiss on the ground that the court was without jurisdiction because the amount sued for by the plaintiff ($3.95) was less than the $5,000 minimum jurisdictional amount of the circuit court, and because that jurisdictional requirement could not be met by aggregating such three or four dollar damage claims of the purported members of the class.
The trial court denied the motion to dismiss, thereby holding that such small damage claims of the (class) plaintiffs could be aggregated to make up the jurisdictional $5,000 requirement of the circuit court. By a separate order the trial court limited the class to all such subscribers who were residents of Florida, and denied defendants’ •motion to transfer the action to the indicated court of lesser jurisdiction. The defendants Curtis Publishing Company and The Saturday Evening Post Company appealed from those orders.
The ruling of the trial court on the jurisdictional question was error, and we reverse on authority of State ex rel. City of West Palm Beach v. Chillingworth (1930) 100 Fla. 489, 129 So. 816; Wilson v. First National Bank of Miami Springs (Fla.App.1971) 254 So.2d 362. It follows that the denial of motion to transfer was error.
The orders appealed from are reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.
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Citator
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Frankel v. City OF Miami Beach, 340 So. 2d 463 (Fla. 1976)…to dismiss and the Third District affirmed upon the authority of its decisions in Shell Oil Co. v. State, 295 So. 2d 648 (Fla.App.3d 1974); Federated Department Stores, Inc. v. Pasco, 275 So. 2d 46 (Fla.App.3d 1973); Curtis Publishing Co. v. Bader, 266 So. 2d 78 (Fla.App.3d 1972), and the Supreme Court’s decision in Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 94 S.Ct. 2140, 40 L.Ed.2d 732 (1974). Judge Pearson dissented on the grounds that the Frankel majority’s affirmance of the trial court’s dismissal of…1 / 2
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Galen OF Fla., Inc. v. Ansell R. Arscott, 629 So. 2d 856 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)…(1930), nor Burkhart v. Gowin, 86 Fla. 376, 98 So. 140 (1923), is very helpful based on their facts. On the other hand, Frankel v. City of Miami Beach, 340 So. 2d 463 (Fla.1976), partially overruling on other grounds, Curtis Publishing Co. v. Bader, 266 So. 2d 78 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 271 So. 2d 142 (Fla.1972), and City of Miami v. Keton, 115 So. 2d 547 (Fla.1959), provide at least a policy framework within which to consider the issue, and their facts suggest an answer. See also Tenney v. City of Miam…
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Plantation Gen. Hosp. Ltd. P'ship v. Johnson, 621 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)…he Chillingworth criteria. I acknowledge that there is no Florida case, statute, or rule specifically placing general jurisdiction over class actions in the circuit court. I also recognize that the Third District, in Curtis Publishing Co. v. Bader, 266 So. 2d 78 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. denied, 271 So. 2d 142 (Fla.1972), held that a class action could not be brought in the circuit court by aggregating the damages of the class members, which were prepaid subscription damages of $3.95 each, citing Chillingworth.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Joyce v. Shingary (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)
- State v. Chillingworth, 100 Fla. 489 (Fla. 1930)
- Wilson v. First Nat'l Bank OF Miami Springs, 254 So. 2d 362 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971)