ERNESTINE STYLES, APPELLANT,
v.
Y.D. TAXI CORP., INC., APPELLEE
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A taxi passenger who suffered a miscarriage following a vehicle accident sued for damages. The trial court entered judgment for the defendant notwithstanding the jury's verdict for the plaintiff, holding that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence of permanent injury or loss of bodily function under Florida's no-fault insurance statute.
The court affirmed the judgment for the defendant, holding that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence of permanent injury beyond the miscarriage itself. The loss of a fetus, without expert testimony or other objective evidence of physical injury to the mother, does not satisfy the statutory threshold for recovery under section 627.737(2).
[1] A plaintiff seeking to recover damages for permanent injury under Fla.Stat. …
[2] Fla.Stat. …
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Section 627.737 is a statutory limitation on an injured party's common law right of action in tort. As such, it must be strictly construed to conform the statute as nearly as possible to the common law.”
Establishes the interpretive framework requiring strict construction of the no-fault insurance threshold
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceErnestine Styles was a pregnant passenger in a taxicab owned by Y.D. Taxi Corp. when the vehicle was involved in an accident. As a result of the accid…
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PER CURIAM.
The trial court entered judgment for the defendant, notwithstanding a jury verdict for the plaintiff, Styles. The court’s order on the defendant’s motion for entry of judgment reads, in pertinent part:
“The Plaintiff was a passenger in a taxicab owned by the Defendant company. As a result of an accident of the vehicle in which the Plaintiff was riding, the Plaintiff who was pregnant at the time suffered a miscarriage. Liability was admitted. The pivotal legal question is whether the Plaintiff submitted sufficient evidence under Fla.Stat. 627.737(2) to show that she suffered as alleged:
“ ‘(a) Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function.
“(b) Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement.’
“The Plaintiff relies on the fact there was some evidence of ‘permanent injury’ by proof of the loss of a fetus. The Defendant conversely argues there was no evidence of damages sufficient to meet the threshold requirement of Fla. Stat. 672.737 [sic: should read 627.737] by proof of the death of a fetus. The Plaintiff’s expert did not testify that the loss of the fetus caused either the loss of an important bodily function or caused the Plaintiff any permanent injury within ... any degree of medical probability. The Plaintiff admits there was no such testimony but claims that such evidence would have been ‘useless’ as it is obvious by the loss of a fetus a ‘permanent injury’ was suffered by the Plaintiff.
“Section 627.737 is a statutory limitation on an injured party’s common law right of action in tort. As such, it must be strictly construed to conform the statute as nearly as possible to the common law. The common law as adopted by Florida did not provide a remedy for the torturous [sic: should read tortious] killing of a human being, adult or child. The loss of a fetus is not covered by the Florida Wrongful Death Statute, Stern v. Miller, 348 So. 2d 303 (Fla.1977). If a could-be [sic: should read would-be] mother cannot recover directly for the death of an unborn fetus, it would appear that she should not be able to recover indirectly for such death as a ‘permanent injury’ to her absent a showing of some objective signs of injury resulting from the loss of the fetus. See: Snowden v. Sprouse, 375 So. 2d 901 (1st DCA Fla.1979). In short, a strict construction of Fla.Stat. 627.37(2) [627.737(2)] requires some evidence, either by expert testimony or by the Plaintiff herself that she suffered some ‘permanent injury’ other than proof of a miscarriage.”
We agree with the trial court and affirm the judgment under review.
Affirmed.
. The evidence supporting this finding of causation is minimal. The plaintiff suffered no physical trauma to the abdomen in the accident. She had, several years before the accident, miscarried at around the same time (five months) of her pregnancy. By all accounts, one cause of these miscarriages was that the plaintiff had an incompetent cervix.
. After this miscarriage, the plaintiff had a successful pregnancy, the cervix being sutured at an early stage, which resulted in the birth of a daughter.
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In re Guardianship OF J.D.S. Jennifer Wixtrom v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 864 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…Hernandez v. Garwood, 390 So. 2d 357, 358 (Fla.1980); Duncan v. Flynn, 358 So. 2d 178, 178 (Fla. 1978); Stern v. Miller, 348 So. 2d 303, 308 (Fla. 1977); Love v. State, 450 So. 2d 1191, 1193 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); and Styles v. Y.D. Taxi Corp., Inc., 426 So. 2d 1144, 1145 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). .The trial court found: 1) The nature and scope of the Ward’s inca-pacities are: severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy with a history of autism. 2) The following facts demonstrate that the Ward is totally without cap…
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Fatimeh T. Abdelaziz v. A.M.I.S.U.B. OF Fla., Inc., 515 So. 2d 269 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)…ted therewith. Such a claim is clearly not cognizable under the wrongful death statute, and should not, we conclude, be indirectly recoverable under a simple negligence claim as alleged in the second amended complaint. See Styles v. Y.D. Taxi Cory., 426 So. 2d 1144 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). Indeed, to reach a contrary conclusion would directly conflict with the result we reached in Molleda v. Fandino, 506 So. 2d 61 (Fla. 3d DCA-1987), a per curiam decision of this court based on virtually identical negligence claims…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Stern v. Miller, 348 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 1977)
- Snowden v. Sprouse, 375 So. 2d 901 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)