In an action of negligence for damage to the plaintiff’s person, a judgment for the defendant on the pleadings was entered on the ground that all matters in controversy were adjudicated by a final judgment in a prior action.
In this prior action, the appellant joined his wife in an action оf negligence in which the wife sought damages for injury to her person, and the husband, the appellant, sought damages for his loss through his wife, that is, for medical expenses and loss of consortium. About two weeks before the trial, the husband moved for leave to amend his complaint by including a claim for “the personal injuries suffered by the plaintiff, Herman Goldman”, and to grant a continuаnce. His only ground for the motion was that subsequent to filing the action the Supreme Court of Florida had decided Mims v. Reid, Fla.1957,
The circuit judge before whom this prior action was pending dеnied the motion on the ground that the husband could bring a separate and later action for damages to 'his car and to his person. With this reason we do not agree, but there may well have been other reasons justifying a dеnial of the motion to amend and for a continuance. At any rate, this ruling was not challenged 'and its correctness is not involved in this appeal. The appellant acquiesced in the ruling and filed a distinct claim for his pеrsonal damage. The prior case proceeded to trial resulting in a verdict and judgment for the plaintiffs, husband and wife. In the present action, the defendant pleaded the prior adjudication. The circuit judge in this aсtion agreed that the controversy was res judicata and from his judgment on thе pleadings the plaintiff appealed.
The appellant relies on Gaynon v. Statum,
Since the decision of that case in 1942, the statute, § 46.09, Fla.Stat., F.S. A., which permits joinder of husbаnd’s cause of action with that of his wife, has undergone significant amendment. In 1942 the statute merely said that the husband could join claims “in his own right” without defining the meaning of “in his own right”. This was held to exclude, in the Gaynon case, a claim for damage to the husband’s person. The legislature, evidently to remedy a statutory defеct and desiring to encourage joinder of causes of action, enacted chapter 21886, General Laws of 1943, which amended § 46.09 by adding immediatеly after the words “claims in his own right” these words: “which said claims shall mean and includе any and all
The judgment appealed from should be, and hereby is affirmed.
Affirmed.
