Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida v. Prudential Securities, Inc.

925 So. 2d 1112, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 5079, 2006 WL 888096
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 7, 2006
Docket5D05-248
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 925 So. 2d 1112 (Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida v. Prudential Securities, Inc.) 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
Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida v. Prudential Securities, Inc., 925 So. 2d 1112, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 5079, 2006 WL 888096 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

925 So.2d 1112 (2006)

EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF CENTRAL FLORIDA, Appellant,
v.
PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES, INC., etc., et al., Appellees.

No. 5D05-248.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

April 7, 2006.

*1113 Robert Dyer and Brian R. Gilchrist of Allen, Dyer, Doppelt, Milbrath & Gilchrist, Orlando, for Appellant.

Ronald E. Crescenzo, Patricia M. Christiansen, Richard L. Martens and Charles L. Pickett of Boose Casey Ciklin Lubitz Martens McBane & O'Connell, West Palm Beach, for Appellee.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING AND FOR REHEARING EN BANC AND MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION

PER CURIAM.

We deny appellees' motion for rehearing and for rehearing en banc but grant the appellees' motion for clarification. Accordingly, we withdraw our prior opinion and substitute the following opinion.

The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida ("Diocese") appeals a trial court order confirming an arbitration award and entering final judgment. The Diocese claims that the trial court erred in ordering this case to arbitration. We agree.

In 1992, Prudential Securities ("Prudential") hired John Trumbo ("Trumbo") as a broker after he was fired by another brokerage firm for mismanaging client funds. In May 1999, the Diocese established four investment accounts with Prudential, with Trumbo serving as broker on each account. The Diocese signed an application, a "Command Account Agreement," and a "Client's Opening Cash Agreement" for each account.

The Command Account Agreement contained the following arbitration provision:

I agree that all controversies which may arise between us concerning any transaction (whether executed or to be executed within or outside of the United States), my account or this or any other agreement between us, whether entered into prior, on, or subsequent to the date indicated on the signature page, shall be determined by arbitration.

The Cash Agreement contained the following arbitration provision:

Cash Agreement
The undersigned agrees, and by carrying an account for the undersigned you agree, all controversies which may arise between us concerning any transaction or the construction, performance or breach of this or any other agreement between us, whether entered into prior, on or subsequent to the date hereof, shall be determined by arbitration.

The Diocese later received a welcome letter from Prudential that listed the Diocese's primary investment objective as "Income" and its risk tolerance as "Conservative."

Trumbo managed the accounts until he was "permitted to resign" from Prudential on July 21, 2000. Prudential was required to file a termination notice[1] regarding *1114 Trumbo and it did so, listing the reason as a "loss of confidence regarding business practices." Later Prudential reported that Trumbo had been discharged after Prudential determined that his investment philosophy "was not consistent with the investment philosophy espoused by the firm."

Sometime in late August or early September 2000, Trumbo informed the Diocese that he was changing brokerage firms and obtained consent to move all four of its accounts to his new firm, Continental Broker Dealer, Inc., ("Continental"). Prudential sent a letter to the Diocese acknowledging the transfer of the funds to Continental, but the letter did not allege any improprieties or indicate that Trumbo had been fired. The transfer of funds was completed on or about October 2, 2000. Over the next year the funds lost a combined $775,113 in value.

The Diocese then filed a tort action against Prudential seeking to recover damages for its investment losses at Continental. The Diocese alleged that Prudential failed to warn the Diocese, before transferring its accounts to Continental, that Trumbo's trading at Prudential was inconsistent with the Diocese's investment objectives and that Trumbo had a significant regulatory history. In essence, the Diocese asserted that but for Prudential's breach of fiduciary duty, the Diocese never would have allowed Trumbo to manage the funds or transfer the funds to Continental and would not have suffered losses.

Prudential filed a motion to compel arbitration which was granted by the trial court. The Diocese filed an untimely notice of appeal of that order but it was dismissed sua sponte by this court for lack of jurisdiction.[2] Following a five-day arbitration hearing, the panel entered an amended award dismissing or denying each claim raised by the Diocese.

The Diocese then filed another complaint, challenging the jurisdiction of the arbitration panel and seeking to vacate the amended award. The new complaint sought to reinstate the original complaint on the ground that the Prudential contracts did not require arbitration on the issue of the Diocese's damages caused by Trumbo while he was with Continental.

The Diocese moved for judgment on the pleadings. Prudential answered and moved to confirm the amended arbitration award and for an order of expungement. The trial court denied the Diocese's motion to reinstate and entered its Order Confirming Arbitration Award, Entry of Final Judgment in Conformity Therewith, and Order of Expungement. The Diocese filed this appeal.

Absent one of the statutory grounds for vacating an arbitration award, neither a trial court nor an intermediate appellate court may overturn an arbitration award. See, e.g., Schnurmacher Holding v. Noriega, 542 So.2d 1327 (Fla. 1989); § 682.13, Fla. Stat. (2005). A court *1115 must consider three elements in considering a motion to compel arbitration: (1) whether a valid written agreement to arbitrate exists, (2) whether an arbitrable issue exists, and (3) whether the right to arbitration was waived. See, e.g., Qubty v. Nagda, 817 So.2d 952 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002).

The issue here relates to the first prong—whether the written agreements between Prudential and the Diocese require the Diocese's claim for damages to be arbitrated. Whether an arbitration clause requires arbitration of a particular dispute is determined by the intent of the parties, which is discerned from the language used in their agreement. See, e.g., Citigroup, Inc. v. Amodio, 894 So.2d 296 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), rev. den., 911 So.2d 792 (Fla.2005), relying upon Seifert v. U.S. Home Corporation, 750 So.2d 633 (Fla. 1999).

Like the situation in Amodio, this is not a case in which the federal policy favoring arbitration agreements drives our decision. Federal law favors arbitration only as to issues the parties have actually agreed to arbitrate. Amodio, 894 So.2d at 298, citing Volt Info. Scis. Inc. v. Stanford Junior Univ., 489 U.S. 468, 109 S.Ct. 1248, 103 L.Ed.2d 488 (1989) (Federal Arbitration Act does not confer right to compel arbitration of any dispute at any time; Act confers only right to obtain order directing arbitration proceeding in manner provided for by parties' agreement). Also under federal law, the language of the agreement defines the scope of the arbitration agreement. EEOC v. Waffle House Inc., 534 U.S. 279, 122 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
925 So. 2d 1112, 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 5079, 2006 WL 888096, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/episcopal-diocese-of-central-florida-v-prudential-securities-inc-fladistctapp-2006.