Wilson ex rel. Wilson v. Duval County School Board

436 So. 2d 261, 13 Educ. L. Rep. 179, 1983 Fla. App. LEXIS 19959
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 22, 1983
DocketNo. AO-143
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 436 So. 2d 261 (Wilson ex rel. Wilson v. Duval County School Board) 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
Wilson ex rel. Wilson v. Duval County School Board, 436 So. 2d 261, 13 Educ. L. Rep. 179, 1983 Fla. App. LEXIS 19959 (Fla. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

ZEHMER, Judge.

This appeal questions the propriety of dismissing with prejudice an amended complaint against a teacher and a principal employed in the Duval County School System and against the teacher’s liability insurer.1 The amended complaint charged [262]*262these defendants with negligent conduct in the course and scope of their employment that resulted in injuries to a student in their charge.

Two points are raised by appellants. The first is whether Section 768.28(9)(a), Florida Statutes (1980 Supp.), which grants immunity to employees of the state and its subdivisions, is unconstitutional.2 The second point is whether the teacher has waived such statutory immunity by purchasing and maintaining liability insurance covering the negligent acts alleged. We affirm.

The complaint alleged the following essential facts: Melanese Wilson, seven years of age, was a student in the class taught by Victoria Dethloff, an employee of the Duval County School Board; Donna Sutton was principal of the school; and Johnathan Wade was a fellow student. On October 14, 1980, while Melanese was standing at the teacher’s desk, Johnathan picked up a pair of the teacher’s sharp-pointed scissors and struck Melanese in the eye. Melanese was sent to the principal’s office, where she was examined and then sent back to the classroom without receiving any medical treatment. The complaint alleged several theories of liability in separate counts: The injuries were the direct and proximate result of the teacher’s negligence in failing to reasonably supervise and control her students by not keeping her sharp-pointed scissors out of reach of her young students when she knew, or should have known, that such students would not be able to handle the scissors safely and would likely cause injury to themselves or other students; both the teacher and the principal were negligent in failing to give the child’s parents prompt notice of the injury and in failing to promptly provide adequate medical attention, the lack of which resulted in aggravation of the injury; and the teacher’s negligent acts were covered by the teacher’s liability insurance with Atlanta International Insurance Company that inured to the benefit of plaintiffs.

The trial court dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice because it failed to allege that the teacher and principal had acted “in bad faith or with malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property,” as required by Section 768.-28(9)(a).

At the outset, we note that the record on appeal is completely devoid of any pleading, motion, memorandum of law, or transcript of hearing from the court below showing that the two points urged on appeal were actually raised in the trial court. The order under review does not indicate that any constitutional or waiver question was presented and decided below. We have only the assurance of the attorneys for the parties given at oral argument that these two points were, in fact, argued before the trial court and ruled on by implication in the order of dismissal. Ordinarily, this de[263]*263ficiency in the record would require us to decline consideration of the points urged. In the interest of avoiding further judicial labor to cure this technical deficiency by remanding before final disposition on the merits, we have accepted the joint statements of counsel as sufficient to present these points on appeal. We caution counsel, however, to be mindful of the necessity to raise and preserve on the record in the trial court all issues intended to be presented on appeal.

I

In support of their first major point, appellants argue that Section 768.28(9)(a) is unconstitutional because:

A. It deprives them of their right of access to the courts for redress of injury in violation of Article I, Section 21, of the Florida Constitution, citing Kluger v. White, 281 So.2d 1 (Fla.1973);

B. It violates Article V, Section 2, of the Florida Constitution, which grants procedural rule-making power to the Florida Supreme Court, by requiring that a state agency shall “not be named a party defendant”; and

C. It violates Article II, Section 3, of the Florida Constitution, which provides for the separation of powers among the three branches of government, “in that it represents an improper legislative encroachment into the province of the court by attempting to limit the amount of compensation available to injured plaintiffs in legal actions.”

A.

Prior to oral argument, appellants withdrew Point 1(A), acknowledging that this question had been effectively answered by the Supreme Court in Iglesia v. Floran, 394 So.2d 994 (Fla.1981). Cf., Jetton v. Jacksonville Electric Authority, 399 So.2d 396 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Accordingly, we need not discuss this point and commend counsel for their candor and assistance to the court.

B.

In support of Point 1(B), based on violation of the judicial article, appellants state that the Supreme Court, in Rule 1.210(a), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, has promulgated liberal principles for the joinder of parties defendant in that “any person may be made a defendant who has or claims to have an adverse interest to the plaintiff.” Appellants argue that the legislature’s attempt to limit or alter the provisions of that rule by prohibiting a state employee from being joined as a party defendant amounts to an unconstitutional encroachment upon the Supreme Court’s power to promulgate rules governing practice and procedure in the courts of this state, relying on Shingleton v. Bussey, 223 So.2d 713 (Fla.1969)3 and Markert v. Johnston, 367 So.2d 1003 (Fla. 1978).4

We do not agree. Both Shingleton and Markert involved statutory attempts to regulate procedural aspects respecting when, not whether, joinder of liability insurers is proper. Unlike the statute and policy provision under scrutiny in those cases, Section 768.28(9)(a) regulates the substantive rights of the parties. Rupp v. Bryant, 417 So.2d 658 (Fla.1982). Under the statutory scheme, the substantive liability of the school board and its employees is mutually exclusive.5 Appellants have no cause of action against the teacher and principal for simple negligence; that right of action is exclusively against the school [264]*264board, which the court below properly recognized and sustained. On the other hand, the teacher or principal may be held liable for their own “acts or omissions ... committed while acting outside the course and scope of [their] employment or committed in bad faith or with malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property”; but the school board cannot. Thus, the question in this case is not at what stage of the proceedings appellees can be joined as parties defendant, but whether they can be joined at all. For this reason, the statute as applied in this case does not unconstitutionally infringe upon the court’s Article Y power.6

C.

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Bluebook (online)
436 So. 2d 261, 13 Educ. L. Rep. 179, 1983 Fla. App. LEXIS 19959, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-ex-rel-wilson-v-duval-county-school-board-fladistctapp-1983.