Cole Vision v. Dept. of Bus. and Prof.

688 So. 2d 404, 1997 WL 60865
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 14, 1997
Docket96-676
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 688 So. 2d 404 (Cole Vision v. Dept. of Bus. and Prof.) 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
Cole Vision v. Dept. of Bus. and Prof., 688 So. 2d 404, 1997 WL 60865 (Fla. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

688 So.2d 404 (1997)

COLE VISION CORPORATION and Visionworks, Inc., Appellants,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, BOARD OF OPTOMETRY, Appellee.

No. 96-676.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

February 14, 1997.

*406 Ronald A. Labasky, Patrick J. Phelan, Jr., and Carl R. Peterson, Jr., of Skelding, Labasky, Corry, Eastman, Hauser & Jolly, Tallahassee, for Appellants.

Rosa H. Carson of Carson & Adkins, Tallahassee, for Appellee/The Florida Optometric Association.

John E. Griffin, Tallahassee, for Appellee/Board of Optometry.

DAVIS, Judge.

Cole Vision Corporation and Visionworks, Inc., appeal a final order of the Division of Administrative Hearings finding that the appellants did not have standing to challenge proposed Florida Administrative Code Rule 59V-3.008 and otherwise denying relief. Although we reverse that part of the order finding the appellants did not have standing, we affirm that part of the order rejecting the challenge on the merits.

Appellants are corporations which operate retail optical establishments, employ opticians, and furnish optical services and devices to the public. They lease space within their optical stores to licensed optometrists to engage in the independent practice of optometry on the premises. On December 3, 1993, the Florida Board of Optometry (Board) published proposed amendments to Florida Administrative Code Rules 61F8-3.001, 3.003 and 3.008, which were subsequently renumbered and moved to chapter 59. The only rule at issue in this appeal currently is codified as Rule 59V-3.008. Appellants filed a petition challenging the proposed rules on the basis that the rules impermissibly enlarged, modified or contravened the statutes implemented, that the rules *407 were impermissibly vague, that the rules unlawfully established evidentiary presumptions of illegal conduct, and that the rules unlawfully infringed upon protected constitutional rights of free speech. Theodore N. Gillette, O.D., a licensed optometrist, also filed a petition challenging the proposed rules, and the cases were consolidated for hearing. The hearing officer rendered a final order in which he determined that the appellants did not have standing to challenge the proposed rules and in which he upheld each of the proposed rules in their entirety.

We address first the hearing officer's ruling on standing. Section 120.54(4)(a), Florida Statutes, grants standing to "[a]ny substantially affected person" to challenge a proposed rule as an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. A petitioner who establishes a substantial injury in fact that is within the "zone of interest to be protected or regulated" by the promulgating statute or other related statutes meets the standing requirement. See All Risk Corp. Of Fla. v. Florida, Dep't Of Labor & Employment Sec., 413 So.2d 1200, 1202 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Florida Medical Ass'n v. Florida, Dep't of Prof. Reg., 426 So.2d 1112, 1117 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Furthermore, this court has recognized that a less demanding standard applies in a rule challenge proceeding than in an action at law, and that the standard differs from the "substantial interest" standard of a licensure proceeding. See Florida, Dep't of Prof. Reg. v. Florida Dental Hygienist Ass'n, 612 So.2d 646, 651-52 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993).

We conclude that appellants met the requirements for standing. We are particularly compelled to this conclusion by section 455.228(1), Florida Statutes, which specifically provides for legal action, including the imposition of a civil penalty up to $5000 per offense, against unlicensed persons who violate "any provision of this chapter or any statute that relates to the practice of a profession regulated by the department or the agency, or any rule adopted pursuant thereto." (Emphasis added.) And, although the board has suggested that Rule 59V-3.008 regulates only the conduct of licensed optometrists, at least one paragraph of the rule on its face purports to regulate corporations, such as appellants:

No corporation, lay body, organization, or individual other than a licensed practitioner shall engage in the practice of optometry through the means of engaging the services, upon a salary, commission, or other means or inducement, of any person licensed to practice optometry in this state.

Rule 59V-3.008(2). Because this rule purports to regulate appellants, and as a result potentially exposes them to legal action and monetary penalties, appellants have demonstrated that they are substantially affected by this rule. See Televisual Communications, Inc. v. Florida, Dep't of Labor & Employ. Sec., 667 So.2d 372 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995); see also Federation of Mobile Home Owners of Fla. v. Florida Manufactured Housing Ass'n, Inc., 683 So.2d 586 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).

Turning to the merits, the appellants contend that Rule 59V3.008 constitutes an invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority. We find no basis for reversing the hearing officer's determinations as to each of the arguments asserted by appellants. Appellants first assert that the hearing officer's construction of section 463.014(1)(a) and (b), Florida Statutes, implemented by the Board in Rule 59V-3.008, as prohibiting business associations or affiliations between optometrists and optical corporations is clearly erroneous. We disagree. Section 463.014(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1993), provides:

No corporation, lay body, organization, or individual other than a licensed practitioner shall engage in the practice of optometry through the means of engaging the services, upon a salary, commission, or other means or inducement, of any person licensed to practice optometry in this state. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the association of a licensed practitioner with a multidisciplinary group of licensed health care professionals, the primary objective of which is the diagnosis and treatment of the human body.

Section 463.014(1)(b), Florida Statutes (1993), provides:

*408 No licensed practitioner shall engage in the practice of optometry with any corporation, organization, group, or lay individual. This provision shall not prohibit licensed practitioners from employing, or from forming partnerships or professional associations with, licensed practitioners licensed in this state or with other licensed health care professionals, the primary objective of whom is the diagnosis and treatment of the human body.

Contrary to the arguments of appellants, sections 463.014(1)(a) and (1)(b) do not conflict with sections 463.014(1)(c), 484.006(2) and 455.201(4).

Section 463.014(1)(c), Florida Statutes (1993), provides: "No rule of the board shall forbid the practice of optometry in or on the premises of a commercial or mercantile establishment." Section 463.014(1)(c) is not inconsistent with sections 463.014(1)(a) and (b). Sections 463.014(1)(a) and (b) prohibit an optometrist from associating with a lay entity in a manner that would allow the lay entity to provide optometric services. Unlike sections 463.014(1)(a) and (b), which address a prohibited relationship, section 463.014(1)(c) concerns a permissible location at which an optometrist can practice.

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Bluebook (online)
688 So. 2d 404, 1997 WL 60865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cole-vision-v-dept-of-bus-and-prof-fladistctapp-1997.