Case Name: Charles BULLOCK, Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY and Officer Michael Kernbach, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1983-09-20
Citations: 438 So. 2d 151
Docket Number: No. 83-147
Parties: Charles BULLOCK, Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY and Officer Michael Kernbach, Appellees.
Judges: Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 438
Pages: 151–152

Head Matter:
Charles BULLOCK, Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY and Officer Michael Kernbach, Appellees.
No. 83-147.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
Sept. 20, 1983.
Richard A. Barnett, Hollywood, for appellant.
Robert A. Ginsburg, County Atty., and Ralph C. Rocheteau, III, Asst. County Atty., for appellees.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Dismissal of plaintiff's action for failure of his attorney to appear for a call of the calendar is too severe a sanction to visit upon a litigant. For derelictions of this nature, a court is empowered to discipline the offending attorney by contempt or other appropriate punishment. See Catogas v. Sapp, 397 So.2d 1182 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Aller v. Editorial Planeta, S.A., 389 So.2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980).
Reversed.