Board of County Commissioners of Madison County v. Grice

Thomas and Lilla Grice (defendants) contracted with Tallahassee Memorial Hospital (TMH) (plaintiff), a hospital in Leon County, Florida, to transport their seriously ill daughter, Debbie Grice, to Gainesville, Florida, for treatment. While in Madison County (plaintiff), TMH’s ambulance broke down. Debbie was then transferred to an ambulance owned and operated by Madison County. Subsequently, Madison County’s ambulance broke down, and Debbie was transferred to another Madison County ambulance. The two ambulance breakdowns substantially delayed Debbie’s transport to Gainesville, and she passed away. The Grices filed a wrongful-death tort action against TMH and Madison County in Leon County, arguing that (1) the ambulances broke down due to improper maintenance; and (2) the delay in transit caused by the ambulance breakdowns directly contributed to Debbie’s death. Madison County moved to dismiss or to transfer the Grices’ action to Madison County, arguing that, under the home-venue privilege, a government entity could only be sued in its home county. The trial court granted Madison County’s motion to dismiss for improper venue. On appeal, the appellate court reversed, holding that the home-venue privilege could be overridden if a government entity is sued as a joint-tortfeasor and the claim against the government agency cannot be severed from the claim against the joint-tortfeasor. Madison County appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.