Background Facts
In May of 2018, Maria M. Mosher was admitted into the defendant assisted living facility, Sumter Place in the Villages, located in Sumter County, Florida. During her stay, Mosher was placed in the facility’s memory care unit. On April 2, 2019, while still in the memory care unit, another resident, who had a history of wandering around the facility, entered into Mosher’s room. An altercation ensued between this resident and Mosher which caused Mosher to fall to the floor and hit her head. As a result of the injury, Mosher died four days later from an intercranial hemorrhage.
The Estate filed a lawsuit against the assisted living facility and the individuals and entities responsible for its operation and management. The Estate then amended the complaint and filed claims of non-lethal negligence, lethal negligence, wrongful death, breach of fiduciary duty, and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty. Upon a motion to dismiss by the defendants, the trial court dismissed the Estate’s complaint for failure to state ultimate facts entitling the Estate to relief pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.110 (b) and granted the Estate leave to amend its complaint. Subsequently, the Estate filed second and third amended complaints asserting the same causes of action. The defendants again filed motions to dismiss those complaints, arguing that the complaints lacked specificity and stated conclusions rather than ultimate facts to support the claims therein. The trial court agreed and dismissed both the second and third amended complaints based on the same reasoning, i.e., the Estate failed to state ultimate facts that would entitle the Estate to relief. However, the court continued to grant the Estate leave to amend the complaint.
Pursuant to the court’s leave to amend, the Estate filed the fourth amended complaint, which included 15 separate counts against the defendants. The Estate alleged causes of action against the defendants for lethal and non-lethal negligence (Counts I–VIII), wrongful death (Counts IX–XII), breach of fiduciary duty (Count XIII), and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty (Count XIV–XV). The defendants once again filed a motion to dismiss. After a hearing on
the motion to dismiss, the trial court dismissed the fourth amended complaint based upon the Estate’s “failure to plead ultimate facts necessary to establish the underlying causes of action and the damages relating thereto.” The trial court dismissed the fourth amended complaint with prejudice. The Estate appealed.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal State of Florida held in its October 8, 2024 opinion: “It is difficult to ascertain from the trial court’s ruling why it found that the Estate had failed to allege sufficient causes of action against Appellees. The court did not orally rule following the hearing on the motion to dismiss, and it merely stated, without further elaboration, in the written order that the Estate had failed to allege ultimate facts to support the underlying causes of action. In its ruling, it intimated that the pleading was insufficient as it contained merely conclusions, rather than ultimate facts supporting each cause of action. We disagree with the trial court, as the Estate’s complaint clearly alleged ultimate facts to support the underlying causes of action. It was error for the trial court to require further specificity at this stage in the proceedings, as the complaint contained sufficient allegations to apprise the Appellees of the nature of the causes of action against them. Therefore, we reverse the trial court’s order dismissing the Estate’s complaint.”
Source Poirier v. The Villages Senior Housing I OPCO, LLC, Case No. 5D2023-2067.
If you or a loved one suffered harm while a resident of an assisted living facility in Florida or in another U.S. state due to assisted living resident on resident assault, assisted living pressure ulcers, assisted living understaffing, assisted living abuse, assisted living neglect, assisted living negligence, or the failure to provide appropriate care for a vulnerable adult, you should promptly find an assisted living claim lawyer in Florida or in your state who may investigate your assisted living claim for you and file an assisted living claim on your behalf or behalf of your loved one, if appropriate.
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