Safelite Glass Corp. v. SamuelSafelite Glass Corp. v. Samuel
Daniel E. Jacobson of Jacobson, Cohen & Cohen, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellees Willie P. Samuel, and Mary Samuel, his wife.
GROSS, J.
We affirm the final judgment awarding attorney‘s fees to appellees Willie and Mary Samuel. In the underlying lawsuit, Willie Samuel brought suit for his personal injuries; Mary Samuel‘s claim was for loss of consortium. Appellant Safelite Glass Corporation (Safelite) was vicariously liable for the negligence of its employee, appellant Ernest Henly Haughton, Jr.
Pursuant to
The Samuels prevailed at trial. After reducing the damages by Mr. Samuel‘s percentage of comparative negligence, the trial court entered a final judgment awarding Willie Samuel $495,901.85 and Mary Samuel $115,000.00, for a total judgment of $610,901.85. The trial court awarded attorney‘s fees, ruling that the judgments should be “viewed in the aggregate,” such that the total judgment exceeded the $400,000 offer by more than twenty-five percent.
Appellants argue that the Samuels’ offer was defective for failing to comply with
The defendant/offerees in this case were not joint tortfeasors with potentially different degrees of fault and competing interests. See Strahan v. Gauldin, 756 So. 2d 158, 161 (Fla. 5th DCA 2000); cf. McFarland & Son, Inc. v. Basel, 727 So. 2d 266, 269-70 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 743 So. 2d 508 (Fla.1999) (considering the direct liability of a trucking company for negligent hiring and training, as well as the liability of the trucking company‘s employee for causing a fatal traffic accident). This was not a case where the tortfeasors were entitled to evaluate the offer independently based on “their individual liability situations.” C & S Chem., Inc. v. McDougald, 754 So. 2d 795, 797-98 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000); see Danner Constr. Co. v. Reynolds Metals Co., 760 So. 2d 199, 201-02 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). Safelite was vicariously liable for Haughton‘s negligence.
Similarly, we find no error in the failure of the plaintiffs/offerors to specify the division of damages between them in their proposal for settlement. The lack of such apportionment was “a matter of indifference” to the defendants; if they accepted the offer, they were entitled to be released by both plaintiffs. Spruce Creek Dev. Co., of Ocala, Inc. v. Drew, 746 So. 2d 1109, 1116 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); see Danner Constr. Co., 760 So. 2d at 201-02; Flight Express, Inc. v. Robinson, 736 So. 2d 796, 797 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999). Nothing in the record suggests that it was the failure of the plaintiffs’ proposal to apportion damages between them which created an obstacle to settlement for the defendants. We agree with the third district‘s observation that
On the remaining issue, the August 21, 1996 letter and the August 6, 1996 contingency fee contract may properly be read together to comprise the written agreement contemplated by
AFFIRMED.
DELL, J., concurs.
POLEN, J., concurs specially with opinion.
POLEN, J., concurring specially.
I agree with the majority‘s affirmance, but write separately to point out that the analysis of an offer of judgment which does not meet the “joint proposal” requirements of
In contrast, an untimely offer, such as that disapproved by the majority in our recent case of Grip Development, Inc. v. Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, Inc., 25 Fla. L. Weekly D1259, ___ So. 2d ___, 2000 WL 1345153 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 20, 2000), affects the substantive rights of the offeree. As we held in Grip, allowing technical violations of the time requirements of the rule ultimately would lead to a “slippery slope” approach, one that both the legislature and the supreme court have gone to great lengths to avoid. Thus, our opinions which have consistently mandated strict compliance with the time requirements of an offer of judgment are readily distinguishable from those like the case before us, where the technical “joint