AMTEC LESS LETHAL SYSTEMS INC v. FOWLER PACEM LLC PACEM LLC (2022)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

AMTEC LESS LETHAL SYSTEMS, INC., Appellant, v. Tiffany Marie FOWLER, as personal representative of the Estate of Thomas Fowler, Jr., deceased, and PACEM Defense, LLC, a foreign limited liability company; and PACEM Solution International, LLC, a foreign limited liability company, Appellees.

No. 1D21-3661

Decided: April 13, 2022

David L. McGee of Beggs & Lane RLLP, Pensacola; Ben A. Andrews and Stephanie L. Clark of Pennington, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellant. Thomas D. Roebig and Shaun M. Cummings of Florin Roebig, PA, Palm Harbor, for Appellee Tiffany Marie Fowler.

The Court grants Appellee's motion to dismiss, filed December 6, 2021, and dismisses this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

I would deny the motion to dismiss this appeal, which raises a significant legal question akin to that recently addressed in Florida Highway Patrol v. Jackson, 288 So. 3d 1179 (Fla. 2020) (interpreting Fla. R. App. P. 9.130 as applied in cases involving the sovereign's entitlement to immunity from suit). The issue is whether an employer is entitled to an interlocutory appeal of an order rejecting the employer's argument that its workers compensation immunity as a matter of law can protect it from a circuit-court lawsuit facially alleging an intentional tort. Appellant, the employer here, makes a cogent argument favoring its entitlement to immediate review. This issue will recur without review if not resolved. We have jurisdiction here just as we did in Jackson. Therefore, I would not dispose of the appeal on a motion to dismiss, but rather would allow full merits briefing and keep open the path to Florida Supreme Court review.

Per Curiam.

Makar and Bilbrey, JJ., concur; Kelsey, J., dissents with opinion.

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