Taylor v. Gutierrez

129 So. 3d 415, 2013 WL 6246464, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 19277
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedDecember 4, 2013
DocketNo. 3D12-3045
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 129 So. 3d 415 (Taylor v. Gutierrez) 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
Taylor v. Gutierrez, 129 So. 3d 415, 2013 WL 6246464, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 19277 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

WELLS, Judge.

Chris Taylor, M.D., the defendant below, appeals from a non-final order denying his motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Because the trial court erred in determining that Dr. Taylor’s contacts with the State of Florida were sufficient to confer general jurisdiction over him under Florida’s long arm statute, section 48.193(2) of the Florida Statutes (2011), and because federal due process considerations were not met, we reverse.

On May 29, 2010, Hilda Patricia Gutierrez and her husband embarked on a seven night cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Oasis of the Seas. A couple of days into the cruise, Gutierrez visited the ship’s medical facility as it was approaching Labadee, Haiti, complaining of severe abdominal pain. She was seen by a ship’s nurse and Dr. Taylor, a shipboard physician. Dr. Taylor diagnosed and treated her for gastritis. Her condition worsened and, upon reaching port in Mexico, Gutierrez disembarked the ship and went to a Mexican hospital where she underwent abdominal surgery. There, she was allegedly treated for abdominal sepsis and multiple organ failures. She thereafter suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

On May 27, 2011, Gutierrez filed the underlying negligence action against Dr. Taylor and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court. With respect to personal jurisdiction, the complaint alleged, in relevant part, that the circuit court had general jurisdiction over Dr. Taylor — a British citizen who does not live in Florida, does not own real property in Florida and who is not licensed to practice in Florida — because of his “substantial and not isolated activity within the State of Florida,” as evidenced by his contacts with the State in connection with his career position as a shipboard physician for Florida-based cruise lines. No allegations were made in the Amended Complaint regarding any medical treatment performed by Dr. Taylor with respect to Gutierrez either in the State of Florida or within Florida territorial waters.

Dr. Taylor moved to quash service of process, to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action. He also participated in jurisdictional discovery — i.e., responding to jurisdictional interrogatories and attending a deposition via Skype. The matter then came before the lower court for hearing on October 9, 2012. Therein, the parties agreed that the court should defer ruling on the motion to quash service and focus solely on the two motions to dismiss.

On October 16, 2012, the court below entered the order on appeal. Therein, the court denied the motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action. That ruling is not the subject of this appeal. The court also denied the motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, finding that while specific jurisdiction did not exist over Dr. Taylor under Florida’s long arm statute, see section 48.193(1)1, it nevertheless had general jurisdiction over him under the following provision of the statute:

A defendant who is engaged in substantial and not isolated activity within this state, whether such activity is wholly [418]*418interstate, intrastate, or otherwise, is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state, whether or not the claim arises from that activity.

§ 48.193(2), Fla. Stat. (2011).

The court based its finding of general jurisdiction on the following contacts between Dr. Taylor and the State of Florida, all of which relate to his nine-year career as a shipboard doctor: entering into employment agreements in Florida with Florida-based cruise lines (Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines); attending annual medical conferences in Florida and from time to time making presentations at same; receiving advanced cardiac life support recertification in Florida; vacationing from time to time in Florida; having two bank accounts in Florida; and working aboard a cruise ship that embarked/disembarked at a Florida port one day a week. In addition, because for all intents and purposes Dr. Taylor worked and resided exclusively on a cruise ship, the trial court felt compelled to relax both the stringent jurisdictional standard required under Florida’s long arm statute and the constitutional analysis set forth in the well-established case law in order to redress what it clearly deemed a nefarious scheme by Dr. Taylor to avoid being sued not only in a Florida court, but in any court:

This court is cognizant of the technology now available to people all over the world that enables them to conduct their life’s business without being “tethered” to a particular locale. For that reason, the court cannot simply rely on the standard “brick and mortar” factors in determining whether an individual has sufficient contacts in Florida to establish jurisdiction (e.g., physical location of office, home, etc.). In an age where people across the globe have access to fax machines, emails, cell phones, Skype and other advances, almost anyone could run a business from an igloo or a grass hut as long as they have satellite capabilities. For that reason, the courts should have a broader view of what constitutes a “connection” and not allow defendants to live their lives as nothing more than a shell game to thwart jurisdiction.

We review the trial court’s denial of the motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction de novo. See E & H Cruises, Ltd. v. Baker, 88 So.3d 291, 293 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012).

Setting aside the trial court’s opinion that Dr. Taylor has consciously engaged in a “shell game to thwart jurisdiction” — which is far from an established fact on this record — we find that none of the factors relied upon by the trial court, whether viewed individually or collectively, are sufficient to confer general jurisdiction over him. Indeed, contrary to the trial court’s expressed desire to employ a relaxed, “broader” view of general jurisdiction, it is well settled that “the requirement of continuous and systematic general business contacts establishes a ‘much higher threshold ’ than the ‘minimum contacts’ required to assert specific jurisdiction.” American Overseas Marine Corp. v. Patterson, 632 So.2d 1124, 1127-28 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (emphasis added) (quoting Reliance Steel Products Co. v. Watson, ESS, Marshall & Enggas, 675 F.2d 587, 589 (3d Cir.1982)); see also Biloki v. Majestic Greeting Card Co., Inc., 33 So.3d 815, 820 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (“General jurisdiction requires far more wide-ranging contacts with the forum state than specific jurisdiction, and it is thus more difficult to establish.” (quoting Canale v. Rubin, 20 So.3d 463, 466 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009))); Elmlund v. Mottershead, 750 So.2d 736, 737 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (recognizing that section 48.193(2) “requires a substantially heightened degree of Florida [419]*419activity,” and finding no general jurisdiction over a shipboard physician who had “incidental, almost entirely personal contacts with this state between voyages”). The “continuous and systematic business contacts” required to confer general jurisdiction must be “ ‘extensive and pervasive, in that a significant portion of the defendant’s business operations or revenue [are] derived from established commercial relationships in the state.’” Caiazzo v. Am. Royal Arts Corp., 73 So.3d 245, 259 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (quoting Trs. of Columbia Univ. in City of N.Y. v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

KNAUF DE COLOMBIA, S.A.S., etc. v. CARLOS HAKIM-DACCACH
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2022
MERAKI INVESTMENTS LTD. v. UNIT 1805 INC.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2021
VADIM PIAZENKO v. PIER MARINE INTERIORS GMBH, etc.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2020
Banco De Los Trabajadores v. Cortez Moreno
237 So. 3d 1127 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
129 So. 3d 415, 2013 WL 6246464, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 19277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-gutierrez-fladistctapp-2013.