CHRISTOPHER RON, etc. v. EVELYN PARRADO

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: February 22, 2023
• Docket: 22-0602
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed February 22, 2023. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D22-602 Lower Tribunal No. 20-20865 ________________

Christopher Ron, etc., Appellant,

vs.

Evelyn Parrado, et al., Appellees.

An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Valerie R. Manno Schurr, Judge.

Montesino Law, and Armando A. Montesino, for appellant.

Omar K. Ibrahem, P.A., and Omar K. Ibrahem, for appellee Evelyn Parrado.

Before EMAS, HENDON and MILLER, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Christopher Ron, individually, and derivatively on behalf of Spectrum

Image, Inc., appeals from the trial court’s order granting appellee Evelyn

Parrado’s motion to compel arbitration of their disputes. We find no merit in

the claims raised by appellant, and affirm. See Lowe v. Nissan of Brandon,

Inc., 235 So. 3d 1021, 1026 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018); (“[I]f the parties execute

two separate contracts and only one contract contains an arbitration clause,

the parties cannot be compelled to arbitrate disputes arising from the

contract that does not call for arbitration. The exception is where the

contract with the arbitration clause incorporates by reference the

contract which does not contain an arbitration clause, such that the

latter could be interpreted as part of the [former] contract.”) (citations

and quotations omitted) (emphasis added); Airbnb, Inc. v. Doe, 336 So. 3d

698, 705 (Fla. 2022) (explaining that “because Airbnb's Terms of Service

incorporate by reference the AAA Rules that expressly delegate arbitrability

determinations to an arbitrator, the agreement clearly and unmistakably

evidences the parties’ intent to empower an arbitrator, rather than a court, to

resolve questions of arbitrability”); compare St. Augustine Pools, Inc. v.

James M. Barker, Inc., 687 So. 2d 957, 958 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) (finding that

general contract with arbitration provision was not incorporated by reference

into parties’ separate contract: “This Agreement is subject to the General

2 Contract between the Owner and General Contractor. Subcontractor

acknowledges that he is familiar with the General Contract and the General

Conditions thereof and agrees to comply with all applicable provisions

thereof.”) (emphasis added) with Lowe, 235 So. 3d at 1026 (finding that a

purchase agreement incorporated by reference a separate, agreement to

arbitrate: “If you have executed an Arbitration Agreement in conjunction with

this Agreement such Arbitration Agreement shall be incorporated herein by

reference and made a part of this Agreement.”) See also Careplus Health

Plans, Inc. v. Interamerican Med. Ctr. Grp., LLC, 124 So. 3d 968, 971 (Fla.

3d DCA 2013) (“Whether an arbitration clause requires arbitration of a

particular dispute depends on the intent of the parties to the contract”)

(quoting Seifert v. U.S. Home Corp., 750 So. 2d 633, 636 (Fla.1999)). See

also Cabrera v. Cabrera, 987 So. 2d 753, 755 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (“The trial

court's active participation in the proceedings supports our conclusion that

there is no appearance that the trial court did not exercise its independent

judgment when entering the final judgment in the instant case”) (citing Perlow

v. Berg–Perlow, 875 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 2004)).