Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co.

223 F.3d 1275, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 21155, 2000 WL 1190794
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 22, 2000
DocketNos. 97-5931, 97-5932
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 223 F.3d 1275 (Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., 223 F.3d 1275, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 21155, 2000 WL 1190794 (11th Cir. 2000).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiffs Mazzoni Farms and Jack Martin, commercial nurseries whose plants were allegedly damaged by a DuPont product called Benlate, appealed the district court’s order dismissing their fraudulent inducement claims under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Because the issues presented involved a choice-of-law provision for which there was no definitive Florida precedent, we certified the following two questions to the Supreme Court of Florida:

(1) Does a choice-of-law provision in a settlement agreement control the disposition of a claim that the agreement was fraudulently procured, even if there is no allegation that the choice-of-law provision itself was fraudulently procured? (2) If Florida law applies, does the release in these settlement agreements bar plaintiffs’ fraudulent inducement claims?

■ The Supreme Court of Florida has answered the first certified question in the affirmative and the second certified question in the negative, with respect to the plaintiffs whose causes of action are controlled by Florida law.1 See Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., 761 So.2d 306 (Fla.2000). Moreover, the Delaware Supreme Court recently held that a release in a settlement agreement does not bar a nursery’s claim for fraud in the inducement of the release. See E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. v. Florida Evergreen Foliage, 744 A.2d 457 (Del.1999). Since the Supreme Court of Florida held that the Delaware choice-of-law provision in the settlement agreement controlled the disposition of the fraudulent inducement claim, the Delaware Supreme Court’s opinion is binding on the parties.

In light of the Supreme Court of Florida’s opinion, attached hereto as an appendix, as well as the Delaware Supreme Court’s opinion, we reverse the district court’s order dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court of Florida’s opinion.2

REVERSED and REMANDED.

[1277]*1277ATTACHMENT

APPENDIX

MAZZONI FARMS, INC., etc., et al., Appellants, v. E.I. DuPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY, etc., et al., Appellees.

Foliage Forest, Inc., etc., et al., Appellants, v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, etc., et al., Appellees.

Nos. SC94846, SC95411.

Supreme Court of Florida.

June 8, 2000.

Certified Question of Law from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit — Case Nos. 97-5931 & 97-5696.

Elizabeth K. Russo of Russo Appellate Firm, P.A., Miami, Florida, and Ferraro & Associates, P.A., Miami, Florida, for Appellants.

A. Stephens Clay, William H. Boice, and James F. Bogan, III of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, Atlanta, Georgia; and Paul L. Net-tleton of Carlton, Fields, Ward, Emmanuel, Smith & Cutler, P.A., Miami, Florida, for Appellees.

QUINCE, Judge.

We have for review the following two questions of Florida law certified by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to be determinative of a cause pending in that court and for which there appears to be no controlling precedent.

(1) DOES A CHOICE-OF-LAW PROVISION IN A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT CONTROL THE DISPOSITION OF A CLAIM THAT THE AGREEMENT WAS FRAUDULENTLY PROCURED EVEN IF THERE IS NO ALLEGATION THAT THE CHOICE-OF-LAW PROVISION ITSELF WAS FRAUDULENTLY PROCURED?
(2) IF FLORIDA LAW APPLIES, DOES THE RELEASE IN THESE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS BAR PLAINTIFFS’ FRAUDULENT INDUCEMENT CLAIMS?

We have jurisdiction. See , art. V, § 3(b)(6), Fla. Const. For the reasons discussed below, we answer the first certified question in the affirmative and the second certified question in the negative with respect to the plaintiffs whose causes of action are controlled by Florida law.

This case involves the consolidated cases of Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., 166 F.3d 1162 (11th Cir.1999) and Foliage Forest, Inc. v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., 172 F.3d 1284 (11th Cir.1999). The Mazzoni plaintiffs, Jack Martin Greenhouses (JMG) and Maz-zoni Farms, Inc. (Mazzoni), and the Foliage plaintiffs, Foliage Forest, Inc. (Foliage), Castleton Gardens, Inc. (Castleton), Country Joe’s Nursery, Inc. (Country Joe), Palm Beach Greenery, Inc. (PBG), and Morningstar Nursery, Inc. (Morningstar), are commercial plant nurseries who sued defendants, E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Company and Crawford & Company (DuPont), alleging that defendants fraudulently induced them into settling products liability claims for mass destruction of trees and plants in their nurseries. DuPont manufactures and sells to plant nurseries fungicides, including Benlate — the fungicide alleged to have caused property damage to plants in these nurseries.

In the early 1990s, JMG and Mazzoni sued DuPont1 asserting products liability claims- based on property damage and actual fraud claims based on DuPont’s alleged concealment of Benlaté’s defects. [1278]*1278JMG and Mazzoni, however, settled these claims with DuPont. The settlement agreements released DuPont from all claims, whether known or unknown, and contained a choice-of-law provision stating that Delaware law governed the release.2 The agreement further provided that the nurseries would not commence any action “based upon or in any way related to” the released claims. Mazzoni Agreement at 2, para. 3; JMG Agreement at 2, para. 3. In addition, the nurseries warranted that they “freely and voluntarily executed [the] release.” Id. at 5, para. 10. Foliage and Castleton executed releases that were identical to the Mazzoni and JMG agreements.

Morningstar, PBG, and Country Joe, however, executed releases that were different in two material respects. First, their agreements (hereinafter Morningstar Agreement, PBG Agreement, and Country Joe Agreement respectfully) did not contain a Delaware choice-of-law provision. Second, their agreements contained narrower release language. These nurseries discharged DuPont “from any and all claims, actions, causes of action, including consequential damages, demands, rights, damages, costs, losses, and any other liability or expense of whatsoever kind, which the undersigned ... now has or may or shall have by reason of the use of or application of DuPont Benomyl products.” Morningstar Agreement at 1; PBG Agreement at 1; Country Joe Agreement at 1.

After executing the releases, the nurseries discovered information which led them to believe that DuPont intentionally concealed the value of the nurseries’ claims to induce settlement. Specifically, the nurseries alleged that DuPont had discovered the perilous effects of Benlate in its field tests, destroyed the test plants and fields, and required all of the participants in the testing process to sign confidentiality papers. Based on these allegations of affirmative misrepresentation, the nurseries sued, claiming DuPont fraudulently induced them to execute the releases.

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223 F.3d 1275, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 21155, 2000 WL 1190794, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mazzoni-farms-inc-v-ei-dupont-de-nemours-co-ca11-2000.