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AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVEL RELATED SERV., CO. INC. v. Symbiont Software Group, Inc.
Citations: 837 So. 2d 434; 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 14562; 2002 WL 31251426Docket: 3D01-2953
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; October 9, 2002; Florida; State Appellate Court
American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. appealed the dismissal of its complaint against Symbiont Software Group, Inc. and its president, David Schilling, based on the economic loss rule. The complaint arose from the theft of financial information belonging to American Express members by Symbiont's former employee, David Prouty. American Express alleged that Symbiont negligently hired and retained Prouty, thereby failing to secure access to confidential information, which resulted in financial losses for American Express. Symbiont and Schilling moved to dismiss the complaint, successfully arguing that the economic loss rule barred the claims since there was no personal injury or damage to other property. This rule distinguishes between contract law, which protects expectations, and tort law, which is based on duties owed to an injured party. However, exceptions exist for tort claims that are independent of any contractual obligations. The appellate court determined that American Express's claims were indeed independent of any contracts related to the use of Symbiont’s point-of-sale systems. As a result, the court reversed the dismissal and remanded the case for further proceedings.