Salazar v. Hometeam Pest Defense, Inc.

230 So. 3d 619
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 17, 2017
DocketCase 2D16-4123
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 230 So. 3d 619 (Salazar v. Hometeam Pest Defense, 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
Salazar v. Hometeam Pest Defense, Inc., 230 So. 3d 619 (Fla. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

LaROSE, Chief Judge.

Baltazar Salazar, a former pest control technician with Hometeam Pest Defense, Inc., appeals the trial court’s nonfinal order granting Hometeam’s'motion for temporary injunction. We have jurisdiction. See Flá. R. App. P. 9.130(a)(3)(B). We reverse and remand for the trial court to enter an order consistent with the requirements of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure l,610i

Background Facts

Mr. Salazar began working for Home-team in late 2009 pursuant to a written employment agreement that contained a noncompete provision. Among - other things, this restrictive covenant prohibited Mr. Salazar from directly-or indirectly contacting or soliciting Hometeam customers following the end of his employment with Hometeam. The restrictive covenant also prevented Mr. Salazar from engaging in “pest control, exterminating, fumigating, or termite control business, in any capacity” within five specified Florida counties.

Hometeam fired Mr. Salazar in 2014. Later, after learning that Mr. Salazar had formed a competing pest control company, Hometeam sued Mr, Salazar in late 2015 seeking temporary and permanent injunc-tive relief.

In June 2016, the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Hometeam’s motion for a temporary injunction. Hometeam offered the testimony of its general manager, and a private investigator. In his defense, Mr. Salazar testified, as did the owner of a home watch company who had referred prospective pest control clients to Mr. Salazar. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court made no oral findings of fact or rulings. Instead, the trial court invited the parties to submit proposed orders.

The trial court entered an order granting Hometeam’s motion, finding that Mr. Salazar .was in violation of the noncompete provision of the employment agreement. The order largely adopted ■■Hometeam’s proposed order.

Analysis

“A trial court’s ruling on a motion for a temporary injunction is clothed with a presumption of correctness, subject to reversal only for an abuse of discretion.” Orkin Extermination Co. v. Tfank, 766 So.2d 318, 319 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). However, a temporary injunction ^‘should be granted only sparingly and only after the moving party has alleged and proved facts entitling it to . relief.” Morgan v. Herff Jones, Inc., 883 So.2d 309, 313 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004).

Mr. Salazar raises a number of claims attacking the order béfore us. Because the order is deficient on its face, we do not address the merits of his contentions.

The order recites no factual findings. The single sentence assessing whether an injunction should issue, states only that “[t]he court finds [Mr. Salazar] to be in violation of the enforceable restrictive covenant not to complete [sic] set forth in his ... Employment Agreement.”

“The issuance of a temporary injunction remains an extraordinary remedy, granted sparingly.” Charlotte County v. Grant Med. Transp., Inc., 68 So.3d 920, 922 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) (citing Yardley v. Albu, 826 So.2d 467, 470 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002)); Allied Universal Corp. v. Given, 223 So.3d 1040, 1042 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (“A temporary injunction is an extraordinary and drastic remedy which should be sparingly granted.” (quoting Cordis Corp. v. Prooslin, 482 So.2d 486, 489 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986))). Nevertheless, the legislature has instructed us to “construe a restrictive covenant in favor of providing reasonable protection to all legitimate business interests established by the person seeking enforcement.” § 542.335(l)(h), Fla. Stat. (2009).

Despite the legislature’s directive, “[a] temporary injunction requires strict compliance with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.610.” Coscia v. Old Fla. Plantation, Ltd., 828 So.2d 488, 490 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). Rule 1.610(c) specifies that “[e]very injunction shall specify the reasons for entry." The issuance of a temporary injunction requires the movant to plead • and prove the following elements: “(1) a likelihood of irreparable harm; (2) unavailability of an adequate legal remedy; (3) a substantial likelihood of succeeding on the merits; and (4) considerations of the public interest support the entry of the injunction.” Masters Freight, Inc. v. Servco, Inc., 915 So.2d 666, 666 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005); see also Polk County v. Mitchell, 931 So.2d 922, 926 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006).

“[T]he trial court’s order must contain ‘[c]lear, definite, and unequivocally sufficient factual findings [to] support each of the four conclusions necessary to justify entry of a preliminary injunction.’ ” Liberty Fin. Mortg. Corp. v. Clampitt, 667 So.2d 880, 881 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) (quoting City of Jacksonville v. Naegele Outdoor Advert. Co., 634 So.2d 750, 754 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (alterations in original) (Naegele I), approved, 659 So.2d 1046 (Fla. 1995) (Naegele II)); see also Masters Freight, Inc., 915 So.2d at 666-67 (“[T]he findings supporting the four elements must be clear, definite, and unequivocal.” (citing Snibbe v. Napoleonic Soc’y of Am., Inc., 682 So.2d 568, 570 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), disapproved on other grounds by Kitroser v. Hurt, 85 So.3d 1084, 1089-90 (Fla. 2012))). To allow meaningful appellate .review, “an order granting a temporary injunction must contain- more than conclusory legal aphorisms” and “do more than parrot each tine of, the four-prong test.” Naegele II, 659 So.2d at 1048 (quoting Naegele I, 634 So.2d at 753-54).

“This court has long held that [rule 1.610(c) ] requires the injunction to include specific findings regarding the likelihood of irreparable harm, unavailability of an adequate remedy at law, substantial likelihood of success on the merits, and considerations of public policy.” McCue v. Heritage Farms Prop. Ass’n, 141 So.3d 672, 673-74 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014) (reversing and remanding for further proceedings because “the order does not ‘specify the reasons for entry,’ as required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.610(c)”); see, e.g., Williams v. Victim Justice, P.C., 198 So.3d 822, 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (reversing and remanding for further’ proceedings where the trial court’s order failed to “recite sufficient factual findings to show us that appellees satisfied each element needed for entry of a temporary injunction”); Dowdy v. Dowdy, 182 So.3d 807, 809 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (“Here, the circuit court’s order contained no factual findings or legal analysis, and it is vulnerable to reversal for that reason alone.”); Cadicamo v. Alite, 4 So.3d 699, 700 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (reversing and remanding for further proceedings because the injunction order failed to make any factual findings to support essential elements of test for injunctive relief); Randolph v. Antioch Farms Feed & Grain Corp., 903 So.2d 384, 385 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (“Of primary importance is the trial court’s obligation to state sufficient factual findings in support of each element entitling a party to' a temporary injunction.... The single error of failing to provide sufficient findings requires us to reverse and remand for further proceedings.”) (citations omitted); Bellach v. Huggs of Naples, Inc., 704 So.2d 679, 680 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997) (reversing temporary injunction that failed to include the required specific findings).

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Bluebook (online)
230 So. 3d 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salazar-v-hometeam-pest-defense-inc-fladistctapp-2017.