The District Court of Appeal in Florida’s Second District ruled that the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller of Collier County was wrongfully denied dismissal in a woman’s negligence case.
The clerk is accused of failing to redact a minor’s identity who was a victim of sexual assault.
The clerk filed the appeal after the Circuit Court for Collier County denied its motion to dismiss Jane Doe parent and Jane Doe minor’s case. They sued after the minor’s first and last names were revealed on court documents in a sexual assault criminal case, where the minor plaintiff is a victim. The plaintiffs accused the clerk of negligence in their lawsuit, and the lower court denied the clerk’s motion to dismiss. Still, the appeals court reversed that ruling on March 27.
“Jane Doe’s complaint failed to set forth a statutory or common law authority creating a legal duty of care owed to Jane Doe as set forth in the complaint,” Judge John L. Badalamenti wrote. Judges Stevan T. Northcutt and Darryl C. Casanueva were on the panel and concurred. “Because there can be no governmental liability without an applicable duty of care, the trial court erred by denying the clerk’s motion to dismiss Doe’s complaint on this basis.”
Specifically, section 119.071(2)(h) of the Florida Rule of Judicial Administration doesn’t hold the clerk to a duty of care, including the responsibility of redacting minor Doe’s information in court documents. This is mainly because Chapter 119 doesn’t oversee access to legal records and documents.
On top of that, rule 2.420 doesn’t require a governmental duty of care in tort.
“There can be no governmental liability unless a common law or statutory duty of care existed that would have been applicable to an individual under similar circumstances,” Judge Badalamenti wrote in the opinion.