Bozeman v. Hernando County
Docket: No. 88-1925
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; September 7, 1989; Florida; State Appellate Court
Betty Bozeman, guardian for Carolyn Harrington, appealed a summary judgment favoring Hernando County and the Board of Trustees of Lykes Memorial Hospital. The complaint alleged that in May 1981, Harrington was injured due to negligent medical care received in the hospital's emergency room. Bozeman sought to hold the appellees liable under negligence and as a third-party beneficiary of the employment contract between the hospital and the emergency room physicians. The trial court initially granted a motion to dismiss from the appellees, arguing that the complaint failed to establish a cause of action. However, the trial court subsequently entered summary judgment based on information beyond the complaint, which was deemed erroneous. The court clarified that a motion to dismiss assesses the sufficiency of the allegations within the complaint, while a summary judgment allows for a broader review of evidence. The court upheld the dismissal of the first count regarding third-party beneficiary claims, determining that Harrington was at most an incidental beneficiary. Conversely, the court reversed the dismissal of the second count related to negligence, affirming that the complaint sufficiently alleged that the emergency room physicians acted as apparent agents of the hospital. The ruling recognized the potential for negligence actions against hospitals based on apparent agency and corporate negligence theories. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, affirming the dismissal of count I, but reversing the dismissal of count II.