Case Name: U.S.B. ACQUISITION CO., INC., a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. U.S. BLOCK CORPORATION, et al., Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1990-07-11
Citations: 564 So. 2d 221
Docket Number: Nos. 88-2061, 89-0076 and 89-0158
Parties: U.S.B. ACQUISITION CO., INC., a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. U.S. BLOCK CORPORATION, et al., Appellees.
Judges: DELL, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 564
Pages: 221–225

Head Matter:
U.S.B. ACQUISITION CO., INC., a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. U.S. BLOCK CORPORATION, et al., Appellees.
Nos. 88-2061, 89-0076 and 89-0158.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
July 11, 1990.
Larry Klein of Klein & Walsh, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Gary Dytrych & Ryan, North Palm Beach, for appellant.
Philip M. Burlington and Russell S. Bohn of Edna L. Caruso, P.A., and Slinkman, Thillman & Beamer, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellees.

Opinion:
ON MOTIONS FOR REHEARING AND REHEARING EN BANC
GARRETT, Judge.
We grant appellees' motion for rehearing and substitute the following for our opinion filed on May 9, 1990, but deny appellees' motion for rehearing en banc:
We sua sponte consolidate the cases for opinion purposes.
U.S. Block Acquisition Co., Inc. (Acquisition), appeals the final order which struck its complaint as the sanction for failing to comply with a discovery order. The other issues pertain to the awarding of attorney's fees which the parties agree are dependent upon the outcome of this appeal.
In November of 1987, Acquisition filed a complaint and shortly thereafter appellees (defendants below) served notice to produce fifty-one classes of documents. Acquisition did not file any objection to the requested discovery. A month later, appel-lees filed a motion to compel production of the documents requested in paragraphs 15, 20, and 24 of the original discovery notice. Acquisition's counsel agreed to furnish all other documents. Later that same month, the trial court granted the motion and compelled (but without setting a date for Acquisition's compliance) the production of the documents in paragraphs 15 and 20. In February of 1988, appellees' counsel wrote Acquisition's counsel to obtain the "missing" discovery and was informed that the documents would be forwarded when received from the client. In March, 1988, appellees sent a second letter as their final demand for the discovery. In May of 1988, appellees filed a second motion to compel production and sought sanctions. On the day before the scheduled hearing, Acquisition substantially complied with the discovery order, but failed to supply the requested correspondence and a complete list of all litigation. Nevertheless, the trial judge granted appellees' motion and imposed dismissal of the complaint as the sanction for violating discovery procedures.
The dismissal of a complaint for failure to respond to a request for production does not require that a court order be violated. Wallraff v. T.G.I. Friday's, Inc., 490 So.2d 50 (Fla.1986). Thus, the lack of a compliance date in the order compelling discovery is not dispositive. Neither is the fact that no prejudice was shown (the case was not at issue and the discovery was less than eight months overdue). Lack of prejudice is irrelevant for "the purpose of reposing in the trial court the authority to [dismiss] is to ensure compliance with its order, not to punish or penalize_" Garden-Aire Village Sea Haven, Inc. v. Decker, 433 So.2d 676 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983). Moreover, a trial court may consider prior discovery procedure violations in fashioning a sanction for noncompliance. See Cem-A-Care of Fla., Inc. v. Automated Planning Sys., Inc., 442 So.2d 1048 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983).
However, the right of access to our courts is constitutionally protected and should be denied only under extreme circumstances. Art. I, § 21, Fla. Const. To strike pleadings for failure to comply with a discovery order is the most severe of all sanctions and should be resorted to only in extreme circumstances. Mercer v. Raine, 443 So.2d 944 (Fla.1983). Only a deliberate and contumacious disregard of the court's authority, bad faith, willful disregard or gross indifference to an order of the court, or conduct which evinces deliberate callousness will justify a dismissal of pleadings for a violation of discovery procedures. Herold v. Computer Components Int'l, Inc., 252 So.2d 576 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971); Swindle v. Reid, 242 So.2d 751 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970). An outright noncompliance with discovery orders may justify the dismissal of pleadings, mere foot dragging usually does not. See United States Automobile Ass'n v. Strasser, 492 So.2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), rev. denied, 501 So.2d 1283 (Fla.1987).
The scope of our appellate review is to determine whether the trial judge abused his discretion by dismissing appellant's complaint for the discovery procedure violations. We find that he did. The most extreme sanction, dismissal of the complaint, should not have been imposed. Because Acquisition timely delivered a substantial portion of the requested documents the trial judge should have imposed some lesser sanction.
Accordingly, we reverse the final order of dismissal and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Further, we reverse the awards of attorney's fees without prejudice to the eventual prevailing party to seek attorney's fees at the conclusion of the case.
DELL, J., concurs.
GLICKSTEIN, J., dissents with opinion.