KANE EX REL. KANE v. Portwood

573 So. 2d 980
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 25, 1991
Docket89-02001
StatusPublished

This text of 573 So. 2d 980 (KANE EX REL. KANE v. Portwood) 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
KANE EX REL. KANE v. Portwood, 573 So. 2d 980 (Fla. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

573 So.2d 980 (1991)

Kristine M. KANE, a Minor, By and Through Her Parents, Next Friends and Natural Guardians, Virginia A. Kane and Gary J. Kane, Appellant,
v.
Raymond Leroy PORTWOOD and Commercial Carrier Corporation, Appellees.

No. 89-02001.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

January 25, 1991.

*981 Michael W. Gaines, and Paul G. McDuffee of Langford, Mooney & McDuffee, P.A., Tampa, for appellant.

Glenn Waddell of Waddell and Ready, P.A., Auburndale, for appellees.

ALTENBERND, Judge.

The plaintiffs, Kristine Kane and her parents, Gary and Virginia Kane, appeal a judgment in favor of the defendants, Commercial Carrier Corporation and its driver, Raymond Leroy Portwood. This case arises from an automobile accident between Commercial Carrier's truck and a car in which Miss Kane was a passenger. The jury determined that Miss Kane was involved in a joint enterprise with the driver of the car in which she was a passenger. We hold that the evidence in this case does not permit the application of the joint enterprise doctrine. In so holding, we observe that this case concerns only that joint enterprise doctrine which shifts the risk of a tortfeasor's collectibility from a joint tortfeasor to the injured plaintiff.

I. THE CASE AND THE FACTS

On February 14, 1986, Kristine Kane and her friend, Karlene Ludwig, decided to attend a party given by a schoolmate at a location north of Tampa, Florida. On that day, Miss Kane was fifteen years old and possessed only a learner's permit. Miss Ludwig was sixteen years old, had a valid driver's license, and had permission to use her grandparents' car. Miss Ludwig drove north on Dale Mabry Highway in Hillsborough County, while Miss Kane gave directions from a hand-drawn map. While they were turning left onto Van Dyke Road, their car was struck on the passenger's side by a tanker truck, owned by Raymond Leroy Portwood and Commercial Carrier Corporation, and driven by Mr. Portwood. Both girls stated that they had no recollection of the events immediately preceding the accident, except that they were looking for the correct road when they were struck by the tanker truck.

Through her parents, Miss Kane filed suit against Commercial Carrier and Mr. Portwood, and also against Miss Ludwig and her grandparents, Roy and Hilda Quinn. Additionally, Miss Ludwig sued Commercial Carrier and Mr. Portwood. Commercial Carrier and its driver answered both lawsuits. They raised the defense of joint enterprise and also filed a cross-claim against Miss Ludwig and her grandparents for contribution pursuant to section 768.31, Florida Statutes (1989), seeking a pro rata share of any damages they might ultimately pay to Miss Kane.

These cases were consolidated for trial and tried in 1989. At the beginning of the trial, Miss Kane and her parents settled with Miss Ludwig and her grandparents for $100,000. Following several days of trial, the jury returned verdicts in favor of both plaintiffs. Concerning Miss Ludwig, the jury found that she was 65% comparatively negligent, that Commercial Carrier and its driver were 35% negligent, and that her damages totalled $20,000. Any judgment entered on that verdict is not involved in this appeal. Concerning Miss Kane, the jury awarded total damages of $160,000. The jury, however, found that the two teenagers were involved in a joint enterprise and imputed Miss Ludwig's 65% negligence to Miss Kane.[1]

*982 In light of the verdict on joint enterprise, the defendants filed a posttrial motion requesting that the verdict be reduced to $56,000 to reflect the imputation of Miss Ludwig's negligence to Miss Kane. Moreover, the posttrial motion requested that the defendants receive the benefit of the $100,000 settlement as a settlement with a joint tortfeasor pursuant to sections 768.041 and 768.31 of the Florida Statutes (1989). The trial court granted both requests. Accordingly, Miss Kane and her parents received a judgment for zero dollars.

It is significant to note that this case does not involve any theory of direct comparative negligence on the part of Miss Kane. Because of the limited evidence of the two girls' actions immediately preceding the accident, there was no basis for Miss Kane's judgment to be reduced by any comparative negligence. Her judgment was reduced only by theories which imputed the driver's negligence to her.

II. THE JOINT ENTERPRISE DOCTRINE AS A METHOD TO SHIFT THE RISK OF A NEGLIGENT DRIVER'S COLLECTIBILITY TO A SOCIAL PASSENGER IN A MODERN TORT ACTION

Before one can decide whether the joint enterprise doctrine applies in this case, it is necessary to define this doctrine. In doing so, the joint enterprise doctrine should be distinguished from concepts of joint venture. Because the joint enterprise doctrine has served several different functions during the last fifty years, it is also important to understand its historical uses as contrasted to its current function. As we will explain, the current doctrine is a judicially created alternative to joint and several liability. Although it avoids some of the harsher results of joint and several liability, the legislature has chosen to control those extreme results in a wider range of cases through other statutory methods. Hence, we conclude that the current joint enterprise doctrine must be conservatively applied in order to permit full usage of the legislative solutions. Under a conservative application, this case does not involve facts which authorize the use of the joint enterprise doctrine.

A. Distinguishing a Joint Enterprise from a Joint Venture

This case involves a joint enterprise and not a joint venture. "Joint enterprise," "joint adventure," and "joint venture" have frequently been used in an interchangeable fashion. In some contexts, however, these terms connote different legal relationships. Interchanging legal concepts with different definitions may easily confuse legal analysis.

"Joint venture" is a legal term used to describe a type of business relationship. In general, it is a combination of persons to undertake a particular business transaction under conditions similar to a partnership. 8 Fla.Jur.2d Business Relationships § 679 (1978); W. Keeton, W. Prosser, The Law of Torts § 72 (5th ed. 1984). "Joint adventures" also seem to involve business relationships. Indeed, this court has equated a joint venture with a joint adventure. Klaber v. Klaber, 133 So.2d 98 (Fla. 2d DCA 1961).

By contrast, a joint enterprise is a nonbusiness relationship. Florida Standard Jury Instructions (Civil) 3.3e and 3.3f recognize this distinction and limit the use of the joint enterprise instructions to cases involving automobile liability. There is no dispute that this case concerns a joint enterprise and does not involve a joint venture.

B. The Historical Uses of Joint Enterprise

A leading treatise observes: "Considerable confusion still surrounds the [joint enterprise] doctrine, which no one has succeeded in reducing to any very exact formula or definition." Keeton, Prosser, The Law of Torts § 72 at 518. This confusion exists in part because the "doctrine" has been applied in at least five different contexts, each addressing distinct legal issues with varying and sometimes juxtaposed underlying policies.

*983 First, the joint enterprise doctrine was extensively used as a method to avoid the harsh result of the guest passenger statute. See ch. 18033, § 1, Laws of Fla. (1937) (codified at § 320.59, Fla. Stat. (1941)).

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573 So. 2d 980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kane-ex-rel-kane-v-portwood-fladistctapp-1991.