Belle Glade Chevrolet-Cadillac Buick Pontiac Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Figgie

54 So. 3d 991, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 19092, 2010 WL 5093174
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 15, 2010
DocketNo. 4D09-307
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 54 So. 3d 991 (Belle Glade Chevrolet-Cadillac Buick Pontiac Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Figgie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Belle Glade Chevrolet-Cadillac Buick Pontiac Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Figgie, 54 So. 3d 991, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 19092, 2010 WL 5093174 (Fla. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

TAYLOR, J.

This appeal concerns punitive damages awarded for a defective Jaguar automobile purchased by the plaintiff, Benjamin Fig-gie, from the defendant, Belle Glade Chevrolet Cadillac Buick Pontiac Oldsmobile, Inc. (Belle Glade). Belle Glade appeals the trial court’s final judgment awarding the plaintiff $11,472.50 in compensatory damages for fraud and $100,000 in punitive damages. Plaintiff cross-appeals the court’s refusal to apply a multiplier to his attorney’s fee award. Because we reverse the punitive award due to improper jury instructions, the cross-appeal is rendered moot.

On January 13, 2005, plaintiff test-drove a 1998 Jaguar at Belle Glade. The car had 45,000 miles on it, and the salesperson told him that the ear had been maintained and everything was in working order. Plaintiff decided to buy the car. He obtained a loan and paid $10,000 to a broker for Members Auto Lease, Inc., which transferred the money to Belle Glade.

When plaintiff contacted the Belle Glade salesperson to arrange to pick up the car, he was told that he could not pick it up for a week. Later, he was told that the car was locked in the service department. Plaintiff went to Belle Glade and discovered that between the time of his test drive and the time he purchased the car, the engine had blown. In addition, the odometer had over 2,000 more miles on it. Plaintiff demanded return of his $10,000, but Belle Glade refused to refund his money.

Plaintiff filed a complaint against Belle Glade, which, after a few amendments, alleged civil theft, conversion, negligence, breach of contract, violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), and asserted a claim for fraud and punitive damages.

In anticipation of the defendant’s “low net worth defense” to its punitive damages claim, plaintiff sought financial discovery from the defendant through requests for production, interrogatories, and other means. Responses were due within 30 days. After the defendant failed to timely respond or object to the discovery requests, plaintiff moved to compel discovery. The defendant filed a motion for a protective order as to discovery relating to punitive damages. Plaintiff filed another motion to compel such discovery.

The trial court entered an agreed order granting plaintiffs motion to compel and ordering defendant to provide discovery by a certain date. After the time passed, plaintiff moved for sanctions against the defendant for failing to follow the court’s order and timely provide discovery. The court granted plaintiffs motion for sanctions and ordered that Belle Glade produce the remaining discovery due under the agreed order. It warned that failure to comply could result in a default judgment on liability and/or other sanctions.

Plaintiff filed several more motions to compel and for sanctions regarding the outstanding discovery. The defendant [994]*994provided tax returns and limited accounting information but failed to produce all the documents plaintiff sought. Ultimately, after a hearing on plaintiffs motion for default, the trial court entered an order finding that “Belle Glade has demonstrated contumacious disregard for this Court’s orders by deliberately refusing to produce documents despite four (4) prior orders compelling it to do so.” The court entered default judgment against Belle Glade as to all counts and found Belle Glade was prohibited from asserting a low net worth defense in response to plaintiffs punitive damages claim.

However, upon Belle Glade’s motion for rehearing on the court’s order of default, the trial court vacated the default and granted Belle Glade an evidentiary hearing. After the hearing, the court entered an order finding there was “no showing that [Belle Glade] made a good faith effort to comport with its discovery obligations herein, or to obey the numerous Court Orders entered in repeated attempts to permit [Plaintiff] to obtain discovery herein.... This Court has previously found, and continues to find, that [Belle Glade] was willfully disobedient of this Court’s Orders; that finding has not been refuted by the testimony and evidence provided at the latest hearing.” The court re-entered its prior judgment of default. It stated, “[e]ven if some documentation had been belatedly furnished as represented by [Belle Glade], [Belle Glade’s] demonstrable repeated and serious willful refusals to comply with this Court’s Orders, amounting to deliberate and contumacious disregard of this Court’s authority, remain proven, militating against vacating the default previously entered.” Further, the court indicated that this failure to obey was not the fault of counsel, but the intentional behavior of Belle Glade, and that the recent hearing only strengthened this finding. The court entered a default as a sanction. It struck Belle Glade’s pleadings and defenses and prohibited Belle Glade from asserting a low net worth defense in response to plaintiffs punitive damages claim.

Plaintiff then filed a motion for summary judgment. The court granted the motion and entered an order that plaintiff was entitled to compensatory damages of $10,000 under each theory that he had pled, interest on the new car loan of $1,472.50, plus treble damages under Florida’s civil theft statute. Plaintiffs compensatory damages thus totaled $31,472.50.1 The case went to jury trial only on punitive damages for fraud.

At trial, the court prohibited Belle Glade from presenting evidence of its low net worth and, further, instructed the jury as follows:

Defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet acted with the criminal intent to purposely deprive plaintiff Benjamin Figgie of his money.
The court has determined and now instructs you, as a matter of law, that defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet is liable to plaintiff Benjamin Figgie for civil theft in the amount of $10,000, plus interest in the amount of $1,472.50, for a total compensatory damages award of $11,472.50.
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The court has determined and instructs you, as a matter of law, that defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet is liable to plaintiff Benjamin Figgie on his claim [995]*995for conversion in the amount of $10,000, plus interest in the amount of $1,472.50, for a total compensatory damage award of $11,472.50.
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While the vehicle was in the sole possession and control of defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet had a duty to take care of the vehicle and ensure it was kept in proper working condition;
Defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet breached this duty and then lied to plaintiff Benjamin Figgie about the problems with the vehicle; and
Defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet’s breach of its duty to take care of the vehicle is the proximate cause of plaintiff Benjamin Figgie’s damages.
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The court has determined and instructs you, as a matter of law, that defendant Belle Glade Chevrolet is liable to plaintiff Benjamin Figgie on his claim for negligence in the amount of $10,000, plus interest in the amount of $1,472.50, for a total compensatory damage award of $11,472.50.
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Bluebook (online)
54 So. 3d 991, 2010 Fla. App. LEXIS 19092, 2010 WL 5093174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/belle-glade-chevrolet-cadillac-buick-pontiac-oldsmobile-inc-v-figgie-fladistctapp-2010.