Florida East Coast Railway v. McRoberts
Florida Supreme Court
149 So. 631 (1933)
- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
W. C. McRoberts (plaintiff) filed a wrongful-death action in a Florida state court against the Florida East Coast Railway Company (defendant) for the wrongful death of McRoberts’s wife. The trial court held for McRoberts and awarded him $22,500 in compensatory and exemplary (punitive) damages. The railroad appealed and conceded for purposes of the appeal that a sufficient factual basis for exemplary damages was presented by McRoberts’s evidence if the appellate court determined that in an action for wrongful death under the Florida statute such damages are recoverable as a matter of law. The supreme court found that punitive damages were not recoverable under the Florida wrongful-death statute and ordered a new trial on the issue of damages. A petition for rehearing was filed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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