Martinez v. Preferred Care Partners, Inc. , 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 9596 ( 2017 )


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  •       Third District Court of Appeal
    State of Florida
    Opinion filed July 05, 2017.
    Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
    ________________
    No. 3D16-440
    Lower Tribunal No. 12-39331
    ________________
    Osvaldo Martinez,
    Appellant,
    vs.
    Preferred Care Partners, Inc., et al.,
    Appellees.
    An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Beatrice
    Butchko, Judge.
    Osvaldo Martinez, in proper person.
    Legon Fodiman, P.A., and Todd R. Legon and William F. Rhodes, for
    appellees.
    Before ROTHENBERG, C.J., and EMAS and LOGUE, JJ.
    ROTHENBERG, C.J.
    Osvaldo Martinez (“Martinez”) appeals the trial court’s entry of an order
    granting final summary judgment in favor of Preferred Care Partners, Inc. (“PCP”),
    Preferred Care Partners Medical Group, Inc., Preferred Care Partners Holding
    Corp., Joseph L. Caruncho, and Justo Luis Pozo (collectively, “the defendants”).
    We affirm.
    The record reflects that Martinez previously owned companies that entered
    into a Network Risk Agreement with PCP. According to the agreement, PCP was
    to provide Martinez’s companies with Medicare-eligible members in its healthcare
    plan; Martinez’s companies would provide medical care for those members; and
    the parties would split the capitation from the federal government. Martinez sued
    the defendants on October 5, 2012 for allegedly committing various tortious acts.
    The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment as to all of Martinez’s claims
    based, in part, on the general release Martinez executed on January 18, 2012,
    releasing the defendants from the claims alleged in his complaint.
    A general release is construed according to the principles governing the
    construction of contracts. Plumpton v. Cont’l Acreage Dev. Co., 
    830 So. 2d 208
    ,
    210 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002). The general release in the instant case unambiguously
    covers “all manner of claims” that Martinez and the companies he formerly owned
    “have, had, or may have had” against the defendants “from the beginning of the
    world to present.” Such all-encompassing language fully protects the defendants,
    2
    as it is undisputed that the claims in Martinez’s complaint accrued prior to the
    execution of the general release. See AXA Equitable Life Ins. Co. v. Gelpi, 
    12 So. 3d
    783, 786 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009); Brewer v. Laborfinders of Tampa, 
    944 So. 2d 1102
    , 1103 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006).
    It is also undisputed that Martinez failed to file a reply containing any legal
    theory that could result in the avoidance of the defendants’ general release. See
    Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.100 (“If an answer or third-party answer contains an affirmative
    defense and the opposing party seeks to avoid it, the opposing party must file a
    reply containing the avoidance.”); CJM Fin., Inc. v. Castillo Grand, LLC, 
    40 So. 3d
    863, 864 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (affirming summary judgment “because the clear
    language of a release barred the claim and [the plaintiff] failed to properly plead
    any legal theory that would have avoided the release”). Accordingly, the trial court
    properly entered final summary judgment in favor of the defendants.
    Affirmed.
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 16-0440

Citation Numbers: 223 So. 3d 1117, 2017 WL 2854409, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 9596

Judges: Rothenberg, Emas, Logue

Filed Date: 7/5/2017

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/19/2024