Opinion
No. 75-41.
June 25, 1975. Rehearing Denied July 17, 1975.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Sarasota County, Robert E. Hensley, J.
Lawrence J. Robinson of Drymon, Robinson Clark, Sarasota, for appellant.
Ted R. Manry, III, and John R. Bush of Macfarlane, Ferguson, Allison Kelly, Tampa, for appellees.
In this combined survival and wrongful death action, plaintiff-appellant, as administrator of the Estate of Herman A. Nause, deceased, appeals the dismissal of its count for punitive damages. We reverse.
After this case was orally argued before us our Supreme Court handed down its consolidated decisions in Martin v. United Security Services, Inc. and Mobley v. American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida. The court there held that the new wrongful death act, i.e., § 768.16 et seq., F.S. 1973, did not eliminate the right to claim punitive damages in actions brought thereunder. The trial court's order to the contrary herein is therefore in error.
(Fla. 1975) 314 So.2d 765.
See Atlas Properties, Inc. v. Didich (Fla. 1969), 226 So.2d 684.
In view whereof, the order appealed from should be, and it is hereby, reversed; and the cause is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent herewith.
McNULTY, C.J., and HOBSON and GRIMES, JJ., concur.