MARGARITA TOCA, APPELLANT,
v.
SONIA OLIVARES, D.D.S., APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 2004-09-09
No. 3D04-350
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and GERSTEN, and RAMIREZ, JJ.
882 So. 2d 465 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2004) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Margarita Toca sought to enforce an arbitration agreement for medical malpractice damages against Dr. Sonia Olivares under Florida's voluntary binding arbitration statute. The court affirmed the denial of Toca's petition, holding that no valid arbitration agreement existed because Dr. Olivares' prior rejection of the claim made the statutory arbitration procedure inapplicable, and accepting an arbitration offer does not constitute an admission of liability.


Holding

No valid written agreement to arbitrate existed because Toca's offer to arbitrate was ambiguous and inapplicable given that Dr. Olivares' prior written rejection terminated the presuit period contemplated by section 766.207. Acceptance of an arbitration offer does not constitute an admission of liability, and a party cannot be forced to arbitrate disputes it did not intend to agree to arbitrate.


Headnotes

[1] A party may not be compelled to arbitrate a dispute if they did not intend or agree to arbitrate it.

[2] An offer to arbitrate under a specific statute may be rendered inapplicable if a prior statutory deadline has passed.

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Key Quotes

“It is clear that the statutory scheme of section 766.207(2) envisions a case where liability is not contested and the parties wish to arbitrate the damages.”

Establishes that section 766.207 applies only when liability is not contested, supporting the holding that Dr. Olivares' rejection of liability made the arbitration provision inapplicable.

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Facts & Procedural History

On April 4, 2003, Toca initiated pre-suit medical malpractice procedures against Dr. Olivares. On June 24, 2003, Dr. Olivares rejected the claim in wr…

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Opinion of the Court
RAMIREZ, J.

RAMIREZ, J.

Margarita Toca appeals the denial of her petition to enforce arbitration. We affirm.

On or about April 4, 2003, Toca initiated pre-suit procedure of her medical malpractice claim against appellee, Sonia Olivares, D.D.S., pursuant to section 766.106, Florida Statutes (2002). On June 24, 2003, Dr. Olivares sent a written rejection of the claim by facsimile. That same day, Toca forwarded an offer to submit her claims to voluntary binding arbitration pursuant to the explicit terms and conditions of section 766.207, Florida Statutes (2003). Dr. 01iT vares’ counsel responded to this offer by letter dated July 1, 2003, stating that “we are presently discussing your offer,” and requesting the details of the arbitration. Toca responded by forwarding the relevant statutory provisions concerning voluntary arbitration pursuant to section 766.207. Toca’s attorney stated in that letter, “[s]o we are clear, this arbitration procedure involves damages only.” On July 24, 2003, Dr. Olivares sent an acceptance of the offer to arbitrate.

Section 766.207, Florida Statutes (2003), provides as follows:

(2) Upon the completion of presuit investigation with preliminary reasonable grounds for a medical negligence claim intact, the parties may elect to have damages determined by an arbitration panel. Such election may be initiated by either party by serving a request for voluntary binding arbitration of damages within 90 days after service of the claimant’s notice of intent to initiate litigation upon the defendant. The evidentiary standards for voluntary binding arbitration of medical negligence claims shall be as provided in ss. 120.569(2)(g) and 120.57(l)(c).

(3) Upon receipt of a party’s request for such arbitration, the opposing party may accept the offer of voluntary binding arbitration within 30 days. However, in no event shall the defendant be required to respond to the request for arbitration sooner than 90 days after service of the notice of intent to initiate litigation under s. 766.106. Such acceptance within the time period provided by this subsection shall be a binding commitment to comply with the decision of the arbitration panel. The liability of any insurer shall be subject to any applicable insurance policy limits.

It is clear that the statutory scheme of section 766.207(2) envisions a case where liability is not contested and the parties wish to arbitrate the damages. It is equally clear that, by denying the claim, Dr. Olivares was not admitting liability. Toca has cited to us no authority to support the argument that, by agreeing to arbitrate under section 766.207, Dr. Oli-vares was admitting liability, particularly in this context where she had clearly and unequivocally denied liability. Specifically, the trial court properly held that no valid written agreement to arbitrate existed between the parties, due to an ambiguity in Toca’s offer to arbitrate. Toca’s offer to arbitrate under section 766.207 was ambiguous because it was preceded by Dr. Oli-vares’ written rejection that terminated the presuit period, making the section inapplicable. A party may not be forced to submit a dispute to arbitration that the party did not intend and agree to arbi trate. To determine what the parties agreed to arbitrate, we must look to the intent of the parties. Seifert v. U.S. Home Corp., 750 So. 2d 633, 636 (Fla.1999). Consequently, the trial court was correct in its determination that Dr. Olivares never intended to admit liability under the facts of this case.

Affirmed.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Meridian Pain & Diagnostics, Inc. v. Greber, 197 So. 3d 153 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016)
    …medical negligence claims to binding arbitration. § 766.207, Fla. Stat. (2018). An arbitration conducted pursuant to section 766.207 “envisions a case where liability is not contested and the parties wish to arbitrate the damages.” Toca v. Olivares, 882 So. 2d 465, 466 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). Section 766.207(7) places significant limitations on the damages that an arbitration panel may award. § 766.207(7)(a)-(d) (2013).1 After the parties unsuccessfully mediated the dispute in February of 2015, Respondents 2 inv…
  • Winter Green at Winter Park Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Ware, 264 So. 3d 1143 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019)
    …the very nature of the appeal, it is quite clear that the parties did not stipulate to binding arbitration. As a “party may not be forced to submit a dispute to arbitration that the party did not intend and agree to arbitrate,” Toca v. Olivares, 882 So. 2d 465, 466 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004), the lower court erred by ordering the parties to attend binding arbitration. Thus, we reverse that portion of the order requiring the parties to participate in binding arbitration before litigation could resume, and remand…

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