MANNING SMITH, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PARENT AND NATURAL GUARDIAN OF STEPHEN A. SMITH, A MINOR, APPELLANTS,
v.
JAMES REEVES ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1975-06-13
No. 73-1136
WALDEN, C. J., DOWNEY, J., and NEWELL, EMERY, Associate Judge, concur.
320 So. 2d 432 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1975) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

A minor and his father appealed the dismissal of two counts of their complaint arising from an automobile accident, asserting novel theories of liability based on breach of contract and negligence by the employer for failing to procure adequate insurance coverage. The court reversed the dismissal, holding that the counts sufficiently stated causes of action for third-party beneficiary breach of contract and negligence.


Holding

The court held that Counts III and IV sufficiently state causes of action to survive a motion to dismiss and must be reinstated. The court found that third parties can recover as third-party beneficiaries of an agreement between an employer and employee regarding insurance procurement, and that negligence in failing to procure adequate coverage is actionable.


Headnotes

[1] A dismissal of some but not all counts of a complaint in a case formerly cognizable at law is a final, appealable order when the dismissed count alleges a distinct and se…

[2] A third-party beneficiary may maintain a cause of action for breach of contract when the promisor fails to procure adequate insurance coverage as agreed.

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Key Quotes

“for purposes of the motion to dismiss the agreement and the agency are admitted. Thus, it would appear plaintiffs state a third party beneficiary cause of action for breach of contract and for negligence and would be entitled to recover if they prove those allegations admitted by the motion”

Establishes that on a motion to dismiss, allegations must be accepted as true, and the complaint sufficiently pleads a third-party beneficiary cause of action

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Facts & Procedural History

A minor (Stephen A. Smith) and his father (Manning Smith) were injured in an automobile accident involving James Reeves, an employee of The National C…

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Opinion of the Court
DOWNEY, Judge.

DOWNEY, Judge.

This litigation began when a minor and his father sued to recover damages sustained by them as a result of an automobile accident. The individual defendant-appel-lee, James Reeves, was an employee of the defendant-appellee, The National Cash Register Company. Defendant-appellee Allstate Insurance Company is National’s insurance carrier. The question before us concerns the propriety of the dismissal with prejudice of two counts of appellants’ four count complaint.

Count III essentially charges that as Reeves’s employer, appellee National Cash Register Company agreed with Reeves that it would procure adequate automobile liability” insurance coverage on Reeves’s automobile which was used by Reeves in the course of his employment. However, National breached its agreement with Reeves by failing to obtain adequate limits of coverage, thereby depriving the appellants (as third party beneficiaries of the agreement) of adequate damages.

In Count IV appellants allege that when National entered into an agreement to furnish insurance coverage, National became an insurance agent under the Florida Insurance Code; that as such an agent National had a duty to provide adequate automobile liability insurance coverage, but as a result of its negligence National failed to inform Reeves of what adequate insurance should be to properly protect him; that as a further result appellants have sustained damages far in excess of the insurance coverage which appellee provided.

While these counts of the complaint assert a somewhat novel theory of liability, for purposes of' the motion to dismiss the agreement and the agency are admitted. Thus, it would appear plaintiffs state a third party beneficiary cause of action for breach of contract and for negligence and would be entitled to recover if they prove those allegations admitted by the motion, and the trier of fact finds the amount of insurance procured was inadequate.

The trial court sustained appellees’ motions to dismiss Counts III and IV and, upon appellants’ failure to plead further, dismissed said counts with prejudice. Thereupon, the plaintiffs below perfected this plenary appeal. Initially we perceived a jurisdictional problem, i. e., an appeal from an order dismissing some but not all of the counts of a complaint formerly cognizable at law. However, that question now seems to be settled by Mendez v. West Flagler Family Association, Inc., Fla.1974, 303 So. 2d 1, wherein the Supreme Court held that the final elimination of one count from a multi-count complaint in a case formerly cognizable at law is a final appealable order if that count alleges a distinct and separate cause of action from the remaining counts of the complaint. Thus, we are here dealing with a final appealable order. We believe Counts III and IV sufficiently state a cause of action to survive the motion to dismiss. Accordingly, the order dismissing Counts III and IV of the appellants’ complaint is reversed with directions to reinstate said counts in the complaint.

WALDEN, C. J., DOWNEY, J., and NEWELL, EMERY, Associate Judge, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Manning Smith v. Reeves, 349 So. 2d 724 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977)
    …at are distinct from the first two counts. The trial court initially dismissed counts three and four; on appeal we reversed, holding that while these counts assert a somewhat novel theory of liability they do state causes of action. Smith v. Reeves, 320 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975). While the first appeal was in progress, National obtained a summary final judgment in its favor as to counts one and two. The plaintiffs did not appeal the summary judgment. While their first appeal was still pending, the plain…

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