FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT AUGUST 8, 2000 THOMAS K. KAHN CLERK [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________ No. 97-5696

________________________ 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,2 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,* Judge Joseph W. Hatchett resigned on May 14, 1999, and did not participate in this decision. 3 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:1 Following the release of the Florida Suprem e 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 severi ng Nos. 97-5931 and 97-5932 from the consolidated appeal.) 4 Plaintiffs Foliage Forest, Country Jo e’s Nursery, Castleton Gardens, Palm Beach Greenery, and Morningstar Nursery, commercial nurseries whose plants were allegedly damaged by a DuPont pr oduct called Benlate, appeal the district court’s orders finding that their fraudulent inducement claims were barred by the releases executed by plaintiffs in settle ment agreements, and thereby dismissing the claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Because the releases executed by Foliage and Castleton presente d a choice-of-law question similar to that which had been certified to the Supr eme 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 agreem ent 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 rel ease 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 certif ied question in the negative. See Mazzoni5 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 rel eases are therefore bound by the Delaware Supreme Court’s recent holding that a re lease in a settlement agreement does not bar a nursery’s claim for fraud in th e 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.