FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST AND ST. PAUL FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLANTS,
v.
CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, ET AL., APPELLEES
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First Church of Christ Scientist and its insurer appealed the dismissal of their third-party complaint seeking indemnity or contribution from the City of St. Petersburg for injuries suffered by a bus passenger. The court reversed the dismissal, holding that the third-party complaint stated valid causes of action for both breach of contract and comparative negligence theories.
The court held that the third-party complaint stated valid causes of action under both an implied contractual indemnity theory based on the city's breach of duty to First Church and a comparative negligence theory based on the city's active negligence versus First Church's passive negligence. The complaint also stated a cause of action under the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act.
[1] A motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action is determined solely by reference to the allegations of the complaint, with all reasonable inferences deemed ad…
[2] A third-party plaintiff is permitted to present its own version of the facts in a third-party complaint, distinct from the plaintiff's allegations.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The obligation to indemnify arises from an express or implied contractual relationship between the tortfeasors.”
Establishes the legal foundation for indemnity claims between parties to an accident
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAderian McKenzie was struck by an automobile after exiting a bus that the City of St. Petersburg had contracted with First Church to operate for trans…
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BOARDMAN, Chief Judge.
Appellants/defendants/third-party plaintiffs, First Church of Christ Scientist and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, appeal the dismissal of their third-party complaint with prejudice.
A complaint was filed by Aderian McKenzie seeking damages for injuries suffered by her as a result of an automobile accident. Aderian was struck by an automobile after she exited a bus which was to have transported her from her home to church. Two of the defendants, First Church and St. Paul Fire and Marine, filed a third-party complaint against the city of St. Petersburg and two others for indemnity or contribution. The third-party complaint was dismissed for failure to state a cause of action.
The second count of the third-party complaint included the. following allegations. The city had contracted with First Church to provide a bus and operator to transport persons to church. The city, through its employee, had exclusive control over the bus at the time of the accident and negligently permitted Aderian to leave the bus. Aderian’s injuries were directly and proximately caused by breach of contract in that the city failed to perform its contractual duties to a) provide a competent and reasonably prudent bus operator;
b) exercise the highest degree of care, as a common carrier, for the safety of the “CHURCH’s” congregation, in transporting them to and from church; [and] c) to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances in the performance of its obligation to the “CHURCH” in the furnishing of said bus and bus operator. The third count included the following allegations. The city breached its duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances and to exercise the highest degree of care of a common carrier. Aderian’s injuries were caused as a direct and proximate result of the city’s active negligence. First Church’s negligence, if any, was passive and any liability to Aderian was vicarious.
It is a firmly grounded rule of procedure that a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action is determined solely by reference to the allegations of the complaint. See, e.g., Bond v. Koscot Interplanetary, Inc., 246 So. 2d 631 (Fla.4th DCA 1971). The third-party plaintiff is not confined “to the version of the facts asserted by the plaintiff in the first instance,” but is permitted to present his own version of the facts, and the allegations, and all reasonable inferences arising from those allegations are deemed admitted by the movant for the purpose of disposing of the motion. See Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Brown, 297 So. 2d 843, 844 (Fla.2d DCA 1974); Bond, supra. The obligation to indemnify arises from an express or implied contractual relationship between the tortfeasors. Mims Crane Service, Inc. v. Insley Mfg. Corp., 226 So. 2d 836 (Fla.2d DCA 1969). An implied contractual obligation to indemnify has been constructed from a violation of a duty owed to the third-party plaintiff by the third-party defendant and from the passive negligence of the third-party plaintiff as compared with the active negligence of the third-party defendant. See Florida Power Corp. v. Taylor, 332 So. 2d 687 (Fla.2d DCA 1976); Stuart v. Hertz Corp., 302 So. 2d 187 (Fla.4th DCA 1974); Maybarduk v. Bustamante, 294 So. 2d 374 (Fla.4th DCA 1974). We hold that the third-party complaint stated a cause of action against the city under both of these theories. It alleges in count two that the city breached a duty owed to First Church established by contract. It alleges in count three that the city’s negligence was active or primary and the negligence, if any, of First Church was passive or secondary.
The third-party complaint also stated a cause of action in both counts under the recently enacted “Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act,” Section 768.31, Florida Statutes (1975), should the trier of fact find First Church and the city to be joint tortfeasors. See Taylor, supra.
This opinion is not to be construed or interpreted as passing on the merits of the third-party complaint.
REVERSED and REMANDED for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
HOBSON and SCHEB, JJ., concur.
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Nadio & Livio Christiani & Reserve Ins. Co. v. Popovich, 363 So. 2d 2 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)…eld third party claims for contribution allowable prior to entry of a plaintiffs judgment and have reversed dismissals of those claims. Lindsey v. Austin, 336 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976); First Church of Christ Scientist v. City of St. Petersburg, 344 So. 2d 1302 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); Florida Power Corp. v. Taylor, 332 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Leesburg Hospital Ass’n, Inc. v. Carter, 321 So. 2d 433 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975); Steak Enterprises, Inc. v. Claus, 345 So. 2d 1075 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). The North Shore…
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Garrett Blake Beaubien v. Cambridge Consol., Ltd., 652 So. 2d 936 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995)…v. School Board of Dade County, 363 So. 2d 1095 (Fla.1978); Orlovsky v. Solid Surf, Inc., 405 So. 2d 1363 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); DeWitt v. Zimmerman, 366 [*938] So. 2d 46 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); First Church of Christ Scientist v. City of St. Petersburg, 344 So. 2d 1302 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). Carr’s motion to dismiss states simply that the complaint wholly fails to show any fiduciary duty on the part of Carr to the plaintiffs: The complaint only alleges that Carr was U.S. Director for the Cambridge Corporation and do…
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Nadel v. Gross, 523 So. 2d 1279 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988)…. Pan Am. Inv., 450 So. 2d 1231 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984). We affirm the dismissal of Counts II and III for failure to state a cause of action. Connolly v. Sebeco, Inc., 89 So. 2d 482 (Fla.1956); First Church of Christ Scientist v. City of St. Petersburg, 344 So. 2d 1302 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977).…
Authorities Cited
- Mims Crane Serv., Inc. v. Insley Mfg. Corp., 226 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)
- Frank M. Stuart, M.D., P.A. v. The HERTZ Corp., 302 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)
- Fla. Power Corp. v. Taylor, 332 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976)
- Maybarduk v. Bustamante, 294 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974)
- Wright v. Weinstock, 246 So. 2d 631 (Fla. 3d DCA 1971)
- Bond v. Koscot Interplanetary, Inc., 246 So. 2d 631 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971)
- Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Brown, 297 So. 2d 843 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)