MEREDITH KANNER AND SPENCER KANNER, HER HUSBAND, APPELLANTS,
v.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SOUTH MIAMI, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1974-01-08
No. 73-524
Before PEARSON, CARROLL and HAVERFIELD, JJ.
287 So. 2d 715 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1974) Positive Treatment
Cited by 19 cases

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Synopsis

Meredith Kanner, a bank teller, was detained at her workplace while her cash drawer was being verified after she suffered a nosebleed during her shift. The Florida appellate court reversed summary judgment on her false imprisonment claim, finding the detention potentially unreasonable, but upheld summary judgment on her medical negligence claim.


Holding

The court held that summary judgment was properly entered on the medical negligence claim because the plaintiff did not request medical aid and her husband did not immediately seek medical care after she was released. However, summary judgment was improper on the false imprisonment claim because the detention to verify her cash drawer was potentially unreasonable and unwarranted and could constitute false imprisonment.


Headnotes

[1] Summary judgment must be reviewed by viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was granted.

[2] An employer is not liable for failure to provide medical attention when the employee did not request medical aid and assumed their own medical care.

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Key Quotes

“False imprisonment is the unlawful restraint of a person against his will.”

Establishes the legal definition of false imprisonment that the court applied in analyzing the claim.

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Facts & Procedural History

Meredith Kanner, a teller at First National Bank of South Miami, suffered a nosebleed while working at a drive-up window on December 23. Her superviso…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff-appellants seek review of an adverse summary judgment in favor of defendant in an action to recover damages for false imprisonment and failure to provide medical attention.

Plaintiff Meredith Kanner was employed as a teller by the defendant, First National Bank of South Miami. Having injured her nose at home over the weekend, on Monday, December 21, she did not work, but instead visited the doctor’s office. The next day she returned to her job. On Wednesday, December 23, she was assigned to one of the drive-up teller windows and while performing her duties her nose began to bleed at approximately 1:00 p. m. Plaintiff informed the head teller who sent down to take over her duties a fellow employee who continued to use plaintiff’s money. Plaintiff sat down and rested, but requested no medical aid. Thereafter, the head teller herself came down and informed plaintiff she could not leave' until her money was verified. Plaintiff’s husband arrived at 2:00 p. m. and was informed also that until his wife’s money had been verified, he would not be allowed to take her home. Around 3 :00 p. m. the verification was completed and plaintiff was taken home by her husband who put her to bed and then called the doctor. At 5 :00 p. m. plaintiff was taken to the hospital where she remained 15 days and underwent surgery. Thereafter, plaintiff and her husband brought this action against the defendant bank for damages for failure to exercise reasonable care in providing medical attention to the plaintiff and for defendant’s unlawful restraint and • imprisonment of her. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment which was granted and plaintiffs appeal therefrom.

In considering an order granting summary judgment, the facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the judgment was granted. 2 Fla.Jur. Appeal § 307 (1963). In light of the above principle, we first reviewed the record on appeal with regards to the contention of the appellants that the defendant failed to provide medical assistance. It is undisputed that when plaintiff reported that she had a nosebleed, her superior sent down a replacement and permitted her to sit down and rest. The plaintiff herself did not request medical aid and when she was permitted to leave, her husband himself took her to their apartment and not immediately to a hospital or doctor’s office. Thus, we find in essence that plaintiffs are attempting to hold the defendant to a higher standard of care than they themselves assumed. Therefore, we hold that the trial judge was correct in entering summary judgment for the defendant on the alleged failure to provide medical attention.

We then turned our consideration to the issue of unlawful restraint of the plaintiff Meredith Kanner. False imprisonment is the unlawful restraint of a person against his will. 14 Fla.Jur. False Imprisonment § 2 (1957) and cases cited therein. Further, the restraint must be unreasonable and unwarranted under the circumstances. See 14 Fla.Jur. False Imprisonment § 3 (1957). The undisputed facts from the record demonstrate that plaintiff’s replacement continued to use plaintiff’s money. Yet, defendant bank informed plaintiff and her husband that she could not leave until her money was verified. Under the circumstances, we find that the detention of plaintiff until her money was verified would serve no useful purpose to the defendant bank and therefore the restraint may have been unreasonable and unwarranted and resulted in false imprisonment.

Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment entered in favor of defendant on the issue of false imprisonment and remand the cause for a trial on this issue.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Harris v. The Lewis State Bank, 436 So. 2d 338 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)
    …DCA 1976). See also 24 Fla.Jur.2d False Imprisonment § 2 (1981). A plaintiff alleging false imprisonment must show, however, that the restraint was “unreasonable and unwarranted under the circumstances.” Kanner v. First National Bank oí South Miami, 287 So. 2d 715, 717 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974) (e.s.). The undisputed facts of this case show that Harris was in fact detained by the Bank’s security guard against her will, thereby satisfying the basic requisites of an action for false imprisonment. The only substantial…
  • Montejo Gaspar Montejo v. Martin Mem'l Med. Ctr., Inc., 935 So. 2d 1266 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
    …. See Johnson v. Weiner, 155 Fla. 169, 19 So. 2d 699, 700 (1944); Jackson v. Navarro, 665 So. 2d 340, 341 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Everett v. Fla. Inst. of Tech., 503 So. 2d 1382, 1383 (Fla. 5th [*1269] DCA 1987); Kanner v. First Nat'l Bank of S. Miami, 287 So. 2d 715, 717 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). In Johnson, the Florida Supreme Court stated that the element of legal authority may be demonstrated by irregular or voidable process, but “ ‘[v]oid process will not constitute legal authority within this rule’ ” 19 So. 2d a…
  • Everett v. Fla. Inst. OF Tech., 503 So. 2d 1382 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)
    …False Imprisonment § 2, at 531-33 (1981); Lewis v. Atlantic Discount Co., 99 So. 2d 241 (Fla.1957). .See Toomey v. Tolin, 311 So. 2d 678 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975), cert. dismissed, 336 So. 2d 604 (Fla.1976); Kanner v. First National Bank of South Miami, 287 So. 2d 715 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1974); Lewis v. Atlantic Discount Co., 99 So. 2d 241 (Fla.1957); Dodson v. Solomon, 134 Fla. 284, 183 So. 825 (Fla.1938); S.H. Kress & Co. v. Powell, 132 Fla. 471, 180 So. 757 (Fla.1938). . Compare Nettles v. Thornton, 198 So. 2d 44 (…

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