CLIFFORD RAGSDALE, INC. D/B/A COMMERCIAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
MORGANTI, INC., MORGANTI, SOUTH INC., WOLFF & MUNIER, INC., FEDERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1978-04-04
No. 76-2581
ALDERMAN, C. J., and CROSS, J., concur.
356 So. 2d 1321 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1978) Positive Treatment
Cited by 38 cases

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Synopsis

Clifford Ragsdale, Inc. appealed a dismissal with prejudice for failure to comply with Florida's fictitious name statute and failure to amend its complaint within the court-ordered deadline. The appellate court affirmed the dismissal, finding no abuse of discretion by the trial court despite the harsh sanction.


Holding

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in entering a dismissal with prejudice. Although such sanctions are harsh, the plaintiff was given approximately one month to amend and comply with statutory requirements but failed to do so for 203 days, only moving after the defendants filed their motion for final judgment.


Headnotes

[1] A party's participation in further proceedings can constitute a waiver of non-compliance with the fictitious name statute.

[2] A dismissal not provided for in rule 1.420(b) operates as an adjudication on the merits unless the court specifies otherwise.

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Key Quotes

“In the absence of an abuse of discretion, the trial court's dismissal with prejudice will not be disturbed.”

Establishes the standard of review for dismissal decisions on appeal

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Facts & Procedural History

Ragsdale, doing business as Commercial Electric Company, filed suit against Morganti and related defendants. On November 18, 1975, defendants moved to…

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Opinion of the Court
MOORE, Judge.

MOORE, Judge.

Appellant/plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in dismissing its cause and entering final judgment with prejudice. We disagree and affirm.

The time sequence is important and it is repeated as follows:

November 18, 1975 — Defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action.

November 18, 1975 — Defendants filed a motion to abate for failure of the plaintiff to comply with the “fictitious name statute,” Section 865.09, Florida Statutes (1975).

February 13, 1976 — Trial court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint and granted plaintiff until March 15, 1976 to amend. Trial court also granted defendants’ motion to abate.

July 28, 1976 — Defendants filed a motion for final judgment dismissing complaint with prejudice.

September 3, 1976 — Plaintiff’s new counsel filed a notice of appearance, motion in opposition to motion for final judgment dismissing complaint with prejudice and an amended complaint.

November 5, 1976 — Defendants filed motion to strike plaintiff’s amended complaint because leave of court had neither been sought nor granted.

November 10, 1976 — Final judgment entered dismissing with prejudice plaintiff’s action.

Pursuant to the last entry indicated above, this appeal was instituted.

The record does not reflect any attempt on the part of the plaintiff to comply with the “fictitious name statute” which caused the “abatement” of the action below. Both parties, however, are deemed to have waived non-compliance by reason of their participation in further proceedings. See, Cor-Gal Builders, Inc. v. Southard, 136 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 3d DCA 1962).

In a scholarly opinion, Judge Wigginton traced the history of the rules of procedure in situations such as that before us through the year 1963. Hardee v. Gordon Thompson Chevrolet, Inc., 154 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 1st DCA 1963). Prior to the adoption of modern rules of civil procedure in the early 1950’s, the test to determine whether or not a dismissal acted as an adjudication on the merits involved the factual allegations. If that which caused the dismissal was an insufficiency relating to the failure of the complaint to allege necessary facts to state a cause of action, a judgment of dismissal was held not to be an adjudication on the merits. Conversely, if the insufficiency related to an inherent defect in the case shown by those facts which were alleged, a resulted judgment of dismissal was considered to be an adjudication on the merits. Subsequently, Rule 1.35(b), 1954 Florida Rules of Civil Procedure was adopted providing that any dismissal not provided for in said rule would act as an adjudication upon the merits unless the court’s order specified otherwise. This provision was eliminated, effective September 30, 1962, in an amendment to said rule. It has now been reinstated in Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.420(b)1. The dismissal in the instant case falls within the parameter of the present rule.

In the absence of an abuse of discretion, the trial court’s dismissal with prejudice will not be disturbed. E & E Electric Contractors, Inc. v. Singer, 236 So. 2d 195 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970); and Miami Auto Auction, Inc. v. Friendly Enterprises, Inc., 257 So. 2d 69 (Fla. 3d DCA 1972). See also, Lutheran Senior Citizens’ Foundation, Inc. v. B. F. Schumacher, 355 So. 2d 861 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978). In full recognition of the harshness of the sanctions imposed by the trial court, we cannot say that he abused his discretion under the facts of this case. Appellant was allowed approximately one month to amend his complaint and comply with the “fictitious name statute.” He did nothing for a period of 203 days and then only after appellees had filed their motion for final judgment.

Accordingly, the final judgment of dismissal with prejudice is

AFFIRMED.

ALDERMAN, C. J., and CROSS, J., concur. . “(b) Involuntary Dismissal: Any party may move for dismissal of an action or of any claim against him for failure of an adverse party to comply with these rules or any order of court. Notice of hearing on the motion shall be served as required under Rule 1.090(d) . . . Unless the court in its order for dismissal otherwise specifies, a dismissal under this subdivision and any dismissal not provided for in this rule, other than a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction or for improper venue or for lack of an indispensable party, operates as an adjudication on the merits.” (Emphasis added).


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Citator

Cited By (19 total)

  • Edward L. Nezelek, Inc. v. Sunbeam Television Corp., 413 So. 2d 51 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
    …sal for want of proper pleadings is with prejudice unless the order otherwise states. H. Trawick, supra, at p. 289. Compare Hardee v. Gordon Thompson Chevrolet, Inc., 154 So. 2d 174 (Fla. 1st DCA 1963) with Clifford Ragsdale, Inc. v. Morganti, Inc., 356 So. 2d 1321 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978), cert. denied, 362 So. 2d 1051 (Fla. 1978). .The issue of notice was not addressed in the following cases and it is impossible to tell from the opinions whether plaintiffs were, in fact, given a separate notice of the motion for…
  • Price v. Morgan, 436 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)
    …e cause of action are enough.” Trawick, Florida Practice and Procedure § 14-2 at 208 (1980 Edition). Furthermore, in the absence of an abuse of discretion, a trial court’s dismissal with prejudice should not be disturbed. Ragsdale v. Marganti, Inc., 356 So. 2d 1321 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). Because the trial court correctly dismissed the fourth amended complaint and did not abuse its discretion in denying further leave to amend, the final judgment is AFFIRMED. SHARP and COWART, JJ., concur.…
  • Szteinbaum v. Kaes Inversiones y Valores, 476 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …2d 254 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980) (corporation doing business in Florida which was not registered with the Department of State granted leave to qualify with the Department rather than being dismissed out of court); Clifford Ragsdale, Inc. v. Morganti, Inc., 356 So. 2d 1321 (Fla. 4th DCA), cert. denied, 362 So. 2d 1051 (Fla.1978) (corporation given leave to comply with fictitious name statute, but action eventually dismissed since corporation took too long to comply with statute). Thus, in cases where the entity, rathe…

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