Opinion
No. 85-827.
January 29, 1986.
Non-final appeal from Circuit Court, Palm Beach County; Richard I. Wennet, Judge.
Gary S. Blake of Peckar, Abramson Pershes, Boca Raton, for appellants.
Russell L. Forkey and Cara L. Eisenberg of Russell L. Forkey, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellees.
Appellants' non-final appeal, which we treat as a petition for certiorari, see Vic Potamkin Chevrolet, Inc. v. Bloom, 386 So.2d 286 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Co. v. Beaver, 355 So.2d 441 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); see also Beemik Builders Contractors, Inc. v. Huber Plumbing, Inc., 476 So.2d 780 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985), challenges the trial court's refusal to compel arbitration of a punitive damage claim by reserving jurisdiction to decide that issue while referring the remainder of the related issues to arbitration. On the authority of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner Smith, Inc. v. Melamed, 453 So.2d 858 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), aff'd, 476 So.2d 140 (Fla. 1985), we grant the writ and quash the reservation of jurisdiction provision.
GLICKSTEIN, HURLEY and WALDEN, JJ., concur.