Foliage Forest v. E.I. DuPont

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
AUGUST 8, 2000
THOMAS K. KAHN
No. 97-5696 CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 97-00059-CV-JAL

FOLIAGE FOREST, INC., a Florida Corporation

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY,
a Delaware Corporation d.b.a. Dupont,
and CRAWFORD & COMPANY, a Georgia Corporation,

Defendants-Appellees.

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________________________

No. 97-5697
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 97-00060-CV-JAL

COUNTRY JOE’S NURSERY, INC.,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY,
a Delaware Corporation d.b.a. Dupont,
and CRAWFORD & COMPANY, a Georgia Corporation,

Defendants-Appellees.

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________________________

No. 97-5698
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 97-00064-CV-JAL

CASTLETON GARDENS, INC., a Florida Corporation,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY,
a Delaware Corporation d.b.a. Dupont,
and CRAWFORD & COMPANY, a Georgia Corporation,

Defendants-Appellees.

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________________________

No. 97-5699
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 97-00064-CV-JAL

PALM BEACH GREENERY, INC., a
Florida Corporation,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

versus

E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY,

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a Delaware Corporation d.b.a. Dupont,
and CRAWFORD & COMPANY, a Georgia Corporation,

Defendants-Appellees.

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________________________

No. 97-5700
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 97-00065-CV-JAL

MORNINGSTAR NURSERY, INC., a
Florida Corporation,

Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus

E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY,
a Delaware Corporation d.b.a. Dupont,
and CRAWFORD & COMPANY, a Georgia Corporation,

Defendants-Appellees.
_________________________

Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
_________________________
(August 8, 2000)

Before BARKETT and RONEY, Circuit Judges.*

PER CURIAM:

*
Judge Joseph W. Hatchett resigned on May 14, 1999, and did not participate in this decision.

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 Plaintiffs Foliage Forest, Country Joe’s Nursery, Castleton Gardens, Palm

Beach Greenery, and Morningstar Nursery, commercial nurseries whose plants

were allegedly damaged by a DuPont product called Benlate, appeal the district

court’s orders finding that their fraudulent inducement claims were barred by the

releases executed by plaintiffs in settlement agreements, and thereby dismissing

the claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Because the releases

executed by Foliage and Castleton presented a choice-of-law question similar to

that which had been certified to the Supreme Court of Florida by a panel of this

Court in Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co., 166 F.3d 1162

(11th Cir. 1999), we consolidated these cases with Mazzoni Farms,1 and certified

the following two questions to the Supreme Court of Florida:

(1) Does a choice-of-law provision in a settlement agreement control the
disposition of a claim that the agreement was fraudulently procured, even if
there is no allegation that the choice-of-law provision itself was fraudulently
procured?
(2) If Florida law applies, does the release in these settlement agreements bar
plaintiffs’ fraudulent inducement claims?

The Supreme Court of Florida has now answered the first certified question

in the affirmative and the second certified question in the negative. See Mazzoni

1
Following the release of the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion, the cases were subsequently
unconsolidated. See Foliage Forest v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours, Nos. 97-5696-5700 & 97-5931-
5932 (11th Cir. July 19, 2000) (order severing Nos. 97-5931 and 97-5932 from the consolidated
appeal.)

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Farms, Inc., v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., __ So.2d __, 25 Fla. L. Weekly

S446 (Fla. 2000).

In light of the Supreme Court of Florida’s opinion we find that the Foliage

and Castleton releases are subject to their respective Delaware choice-of-law

provisions. The parties to those releases are therefore bound by the Delaware

Supreme Court’s recent holding that a release in a settlement agreement does not

bar a nursery’s claim for fraud in the inducement of the release. See E.I. DuPont

De Nemours & Co. v. Florida Evergreen Foliage, 744 A.2d 457 (Del. 1999).

The releases executed by Morningstar, Palm Beach Greenery and Country

Joe, which do not contain a Delaware choice-of-law provision, are therefore

governed by Florida law and subject to the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling on the

second certified question.

Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s order dismissing the plaintiffs’

claims and remand this case for further proceedings.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

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