Catherine Craig-Myers, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Robert Myers v. OTIS Elevator Company, a Connecticut for Profit Corporation, Louis Carl Devincentis, Individually and as an Employee of OTIS Elevator Company, James Duda, Etc.
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledDecember 14, 2020
Docket1D20-1236
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF FLORIDA
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No. 1D20-1236
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CATHERINE CRAIG-MYERS,
individually and as personal
representative of the Estate of
Robert Myers,
Petitioner,
v.
OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, a
Connecticut for profit
corporation, LOUIS CARL
DEVINCENTIS, individually and
as an employee of OTIS Elevator
Company, JAMES DUDA,
individually and as an employee
of OTIS Elevator Company,
Respondents.
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Petition for Writ of Certiorari—Original Jurisdiction.
December 14, 2020
PER CURIAM.
Petitioner seeks the disclosure of materials as a “public
hazard” as defined in section 69.081, Florida Statutes (2020).
Petitioner asks this Court to issue a writ of certiorari quashing
multiple trial court orders, claiming the trial court refused to
conduct an in-camera review of documents that contain the
information in question. The trial court instructed Petitioner to
provide a detailed description of the materials to be reviewed in-
camera. Rather than provide that description, Petitioner sought a
writ from this Court.
Confidential materials can be made public if they concern “a
public hazard or information which may be useful to members of
the public in protecting themselves from injury which may result
from a public hazard.” § 69.081(7), Fla. Stat. (2020). To obtain
relief by certiorari, “[t]he petitioning party must demonstrate that
the contested order constitutes ‘(1) a departure from the essential
requirements of the law, (2) resulting in material injury for the
remainder of the case (3) that cannot be corrected on postjudgment
appeal.’” Bd. of Trs. of Internal Improvement Tr. Fund v. Am.
Educ. Enters., LLC, 99 So. 3d 450, 454 (Fla. 2012) (quoting Reeves
v. Fleetwood Homes of Florida, Inc., 889 So. 2d 812, 822 (Fla.
2004)). “These last two elements are sometimes referred to as
irreparable harm.” Damsky v. Univ. of Miami, 152 So. 3d 789, 792
(Fla. 3d DCA 2014). “The ‘irreparable harm’ prong of the certiorari
standard—i.e., material injury that cannot be remedied on
appeal—is jurisdictional and must be considered first.” CVS
Caremark Corp. v. Latour, 109 So. 3d 1232, 1234 (Fla. 1st DCA
2013).
Here, the issue can be remedied on direct appeal. See Jones v.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 871 So. 2d 899, 906 (Fla. 3d DCA
2003) (ordering the trial court to vacate a confidentiality order on
postjudgment appeal after deeming a product a public hazard).
Petitioner offers only unsupported speculation of future harm,
which is not sufficient to establish material injury. Wal-Mart
Stores E., L.P. v. Endicott, 81 So. 3d 486, 490 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)
(“Generally speaking, irreparable harm cannot be speculative, but
must be real and ascertainable.”); Bd. of Trs. of Internal
Improvement Tr., 99 So. 3d at 455 (“If the party seeking review
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does not demonstrate that it will suffer material injury of an
irreparable nature, then an appellate court may not grant
certiorari relief from a non-appealable non-final order.”).
We therefore have no jurisdiction to hear the petition.
DISMISSED.
LEWIS, NORDBY, and LONG, JJ., concur.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and
authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or
9.331.
_____________________________
Sidney L. Matthew of Sidney L. Matthew, P.A., Tallahassee, for
Petitioner.
Robert E. Sacks of Shapiro, Blasi, Wasserman and Hermann, P.A.,
Boca Raton, and Kenneth B. Bell of Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart,
P.A., Tallahassee, for Respondents.
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