TAMPA - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a homeowner against an insurance company over a Florida sinkhole, ruling that the company has immunity.
Roger Brown was the co-owner of a house in Clearwater that was next to a sinkhole. He submitted a claim to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, which refused to pay, and then he sued. Citizens settled with Brown and issued payment of $59,066 to Brown and the Federal National Mortgage Association, which had obtained the property in a foreclosure proceeding.
Brown couldn’t cash the settlement check because he had no prior dealings with FNMA. Citizens continued to issue joint checks that Brown couldn’t cash so he filed a federal a lawsuit against the insurance company for the settlement money.
Citizens claimed it was immune from the lawsuit under the U.S. Constitution’s 11th Amendment which prohibits suits against states in federal court. Citizens is a state agency created by the Florida legislature to ensure a stable market for homeowner’s and business insurance.
U.S. District Court Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell agreed with Citizens.
The Florida statute that created Citizens defines it as “a government entity that is an integral part of the state, and that is not a private insurance company,” she wrote.
The Eleventh Amendment not only protects state from lawsuits by its citizens, but "extends to state officers and entities when they act as an arm of the state,” Honeywell ruled.
“For this reason, federal courts have repeatedly dismissed cases against Citizens for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the Eleventh Amendment,” she concluded.
States can waive immunity, the judge wrote, and Florida law has specific specific waivers related to Citizens Property Insurance.
“However, none of these exceptions to immunity relate to a waiver of Citizens’ immunity from suit in federal court provided by the Eleventh Amendment,” the judge wrote.” Likewise, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that there can be no implied waiver of Eleventh Amendment Immunity and any such waiver must be express.”
Brown v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation et al U.S. District Court, 8:19-cv-1951-T-36SPF