Stallworth v. Hospitality Rentals, Inc.

515 So. 2d 413, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2636
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 17, 1987
DocketBS-362
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 515 So. 2d 413 (Stallworth v. Hospitality Rentals, 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
Stallworth v. Hospitality Rentals, Inc., 515 So. 2d 413, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2636 (Fla. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

515 So.2d 413 (1987)

Grace M. STALLWORTH, Appellant,
v.
HOSPITALITY RENTALS, INC., d/b/a Budget Rental Car, Appellee.

No. BS-362.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

November 17, 1987.

*414 Louis K. Rosenbloum of Levin, Warfield, Middlebrooks, Mabie, Thomas, Mayes & Mitchell, P.A., Pensacola, for appellant.

Charles A. Schuster of Bell, Hahn & Schuster, Pensacola, for appellee.

ZEHMER, Judge.

This case presents a conflict of laws question concerning the vicarious liability of a Florida defendant to a Florida plaintiff arising out of an automobile accident in Louisiana. Grace M. Stallworth, a passenger in the car, appeals a final summary judgment for Hospitality Rentals, Inc., d/b/a Budget Rental Car, which owned the car and rented it for use by Stallworth's boyfriend. The sole issue is whether Florida law or Louisiana law should govern the vicarious liability of Hospitality for the driver's negligence. Concluding that the lower court erred in applying Louisiana law rather than Florida law on this issue, we reverse.

The facts are not in dispute. Stallworth, her boyfriend, Kitt, and Kitt's employer, Walke, are Florida residents. Hospitality is a Florida corporation in the automobile rental business in Pensacola. Kitt arranged for Walke to rent a car for several days to be used by Kitt and Stallworth in traveling to New Orleans for a jazz concert. Walke rented the car from Hospitality, listing Kitt on the rental agreement as the authorized driver. The car was rented at Hospitality's Pensacola office, and the rental agreement recited that the car was to be returned to that office. The car was registered and licensed in Florida and was covered by an insurance policy complying with Florida law.

Kitt and Stallworth drove from Florida to New Orleans. After picking up two friends of Kitt, one of whom was Hammond, a Louisiana resident, they drove back into Mississippi for a short while. Upon leaving Mississippi to return to New Orleans late that night, Hammond took over the driving because of his familiarity with the area. Near Frankinton, Louisiana, Hammond negligently drove the car into a concrete bridge. Stallworth sustained severe injuries, and the other three occupants of the vehicle were killed. Stallworth was treated for her injuries in both Louisiana and Florida.

Stallworth sued Hospitality in Florida, basing her claim solely on Hospitality's vicarious liability for Hammond's negligence under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine. Louisiana law, unlike Florida law, does not recognize an owner's vicarious liability under that doctrine and would not hold Hospitality vicariously liable under the circumstances of this case. The lower *415 court determined that Louisiana has the more significant relationships with this case, applied Louisiana law, and granted summary judgment for Hospitality. The sole issue on appeal is whether or not this ruling was error.

Florida has adopted the significant relationships test found in the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws §§ 145, et. seq. (1971), for determining which state's law is to be applied in tort actions filed in a Florida court. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Olsen, 406 So.2d 1109 (Fla. 1981); Bishop v. Florida Specialty Paint Co., 389 So.2d 999 (Fla. 1980).

Pursuant to section 145(1) of the Restatement:

The rights and liabilities of the parties with respect to an issue in tort are determined by the local law of the state which, with respect to that issue, has the most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties under the principles stated in § 6. [Emphasis added.]

The court must, in determining the applicable law, evaluate the following contacts according to their relative importance with respect to the particular issue under consideration: (1) the place where the injury occurred; (2) the place where the conduct causing the injury occurred; (3) the domicile, residence, nationality, place of incorporation, and place of business of the parties; and (4) the place where the relationship, if any, between the parties is centered. Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 145(2) (1971).

Section 146 further provides:

In an action for a personal injury, the local law of the state where the injury occurred determines the rights and liabilities of the parties, unless, with respect to the particular issue, some other state has a more significant relationship under the principles stated in § 6 to the occurrence and the parties, in which event the local law of the other state will be applied. [Emphasis added.]

The lower court's evaluation of the Restatement factors led it to conclude that Louisiana has the most significant relationship to the case because the accident occurred in Louisiana and the driver was a resident of Louisiana. For the reasons hereafter expressed, we hold that the trial court incorrectly applied the Restatement principles and erroneously placed undue, and therefore improper, weight on these two facts.

The Restatement's significant relationships test does not require the court to evaluate the recited contacts with a view to determine which state's local law should be applied to all issues in the case as a whole; rather, the contacts must be evaluated with respect to the particular issue under consideration.[1]See Hertz v. Piccolo, 453 So.2d 12 (Fla. 1984); Harris v. Berkowitz, 433 So.2d 613 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983) ("In a situation such as the one under consideration where decedents, beneficiaries and litigants are from a particular state, the law of that state determines the measure of wrongful death damages." Id. at 614). Where the choices of law influencing a decision differ between the two states involved, separate substantive issues in the case may have to be resolved under the laws of different states. Foster v. United States, 768 F.2d 1278 (11th Cir.1985). Accordingly, Florida courts applying the Restatement test have held that Florida law governs certain issues in the case even though the automobile accident, and thus the negligent conduct of the driver, occurred in a state other than Florida. See Krasnosky v. Meredith, 447 So.2d 232 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983) (applying Florida law to determine driver's liability based on host-guest relationship which arose between the passenger and driver in Florida, since the "only relationship of Georgia to the personal injury action is the mere `happenstance' of the automobile coming into contact with a Georgia tree"); *416 Harris v. Berkowitz, 433 So.2d 613 (Florida wrongful death law permitting full recovery of damages, rather than law of Maine limiting recovery, is applicable where accident involving Florida residents occurred during trip in Maine because the state of Florida has the most significant contacts with these parties, their relationship, and the occurrence).

Because the negligence of the driver in this case is admitted, we are not concerned with the law governing that issue. The critical legal issue in dispute is whether Hospitality, as owner of the automobile it rented for use by Stallworth's boyfriend on the temporary sojourn to New Orleans, may be held vicariously liable for passenger Stallworth's injuries under Florida's dangerous instrumentality doctrine.

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Bluebook (online)
515 So. 2d 413, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2636, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stallworth-v-hospitality-rentals-inc-fladistctapp-1987.