STATE FARM FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY A/S/O CHARLES M. WILSON, APPELLANT,
v.
B & F MARINE, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court reversed summary judgment for boat repair company, holding that a bailee's exculpatory clause for theft must clearly and unequivocally exclude negligence liability to be enforceable, and that a jury question exists on whether the bailee was negligent in allowing the boat to be stolen.
An exculpatory clause in a bailment contract that does not clearly and unequivocally relieve a bailee of liability for its own negligence cannot bar a negligence claim arising from theft of the bailed property.
[1] An exculpatory clause in a bailment contract must clearly and unequivocally exclude liability for the bailee's own negligence to be enforceable and bar a negligence claim…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“does not, as required, clearly and unequivocally relieve the defendant of liability for its own negligence in connection with such a theft”
Court's explanation of why the exculpatory clause was unenforceable as a matter of law.
State Farm, subrogated to its insured boat owner's rights, sued B & F Marine, a boat repair company, for negligence after the insured's boat was stole…
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PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from a final summary judgment entered in favor of the defendant B & F Marine, Inc., a boat repair company, in a negligence action arising out of a bailment. The plaintiff State Farm Fire & Casualty Company became subrogated to the rights of its insured boat owner and brought the instant suit claiming negligence by the defendant when the insured’s boat was stolen while in the defendant’s possession for certain repairs.
We reverse the final summary judgment under review and remand for further proceedings upon a holding that (a) a jury question is presented on this record as to whether the defendant, as a bailee of the subject boat, was guilty of negligence with respect to the subject boat theft, Adelman v. M & S Welding Shop, Inc., 105 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958), and (b) the exculpatory clause contained in the boat repair contract/order entered into by the parties in which the insured boat owner agreed not to hold the defendant liable “for loss or damage caused by theft, fire, or any other cause beyond your [cjompany’s control to ... personal property delivered to the [defendant] for repair, sale or storage” does not, as required, clearly and unequivocally relieve the defendant of liability for its own negligence in connection with such a theft, and, consequently, cannot bar the plaintiff's claim below. Orkin Exterminating Co. v. Montagano, 359 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); see Levine v. A. Madley Corp., 516 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).
Reversed and remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Supreme Int'l Corp. v. AIR SEA Shipping, Inc., 585 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…he record contains evidence from which the trier of fact could draw reasonable inferences in favor of Supreme. Value Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Collection Chevrolet, Inc., 543 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. B & F Marine, Inc., 520 So. 2d 649 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); City of Clearwater v. Thomas, 446 So. 2d 1160 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); Clermont Marine Sales, Inc. v. Harmon, 347 So. 2d 839 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); see Value Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Collection Chevrolet, Inc., 570 So. 2d 1376 (Fla. 3d DCA 19…
Authorities Cited
- Adelman v. M & S Welding Shop, Inc., 105 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958)
- Orkin Exterminating Co., Inc. v. Montagano, 359 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978)
- Jacquelynne Dale Fountain Levine v. A. Madley Corp. & Carlyle & Co. Jewelers, 516 So. 2d 1101 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)