Florida Litigation Guide

Civil Conspiracy –

[1] Elements and Case Citations

(1) A conspiracy between two or more parties;

(2) To do an unlawful act or to do a lawful act by unlawful means;

(3) The execution of some overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy; and

(4) Plaintiff suffers damage as a result of the acts performed through the conspiracy.

The underlying wrongful act ordinarily must constitute an independent cause of action against at least one of the conspirators (see Kee v. National Reserve Life Ins. Co. 918 F. 2d 1538, 1541 (11th Cir. 1990) unless the plaintiff can show the conspirators possessed, by virtue of their association, some peculiar power of coercion that an individual would not otherwise possess. A conspiracy claim absent an underlying tort is sometimes called an economic boycott and requires malicious motive and coercion through numbers or economic influence. See Churruca v. Miami Jai-alai Inc., 353 So. 2d 547, 550 (Fla. 1977).

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Florida State Courts

Supreme Court: Churruca v. Miami Jai-alai, Inc., 353 So. 2d 547, 550 (Fla. 1977)

First District: Dozier & Gay Paint Co. v. Dilley, 518 So. 2d 946, 949 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)

Second District: American Diversified Ins. Serv., Inc. v. Union Fidelity Life Ins., Co., 439 So. 2d 904, 906 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)

Third District: Lipsig v. Ramlawi, 760 So. 2d 170, 180 (Fla. 3^rd DCA 2000)

Fourth District: Hoon v. Pate Constr. Co. 607 So. 2d 423, 430 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), rev. denied, 618 So. 2d 210 (Fla. 1993)

Fifth District: Florida Fern Growers Ass’n v. Concerned Citizens of Putnam County, 616 So. 2d 562, 565 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)

Florida Federal Courts

Eleventh Circuit: Bivens Gardens Office Bldg., Inc. v. Barnett Banks, Inc., 140 F.3d 898, 912 (11th Cir. 1998)

Southern District: Palmer v. Gotta Have it Golf Collectibles, Inc., 106 F.Supp.2d 1289, 1302, n. 24 (S.D. Fla. 2000)

Middle District: Tucci v. Smoothie King Franchises, Inc., 215 F. Supp. 2d 1295, 1300 (M.D. Fla. 2002)

Northern District: Williams Elec. Co. v. Honeywell, Inc., 772 F. Supp. 1225, 1239 (N.D. Fla. 1991)

[2] Defenses to Claim for Civil Conspiracy

(1) Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110(d) (pleading affirmative defenses), and other standard defenses. See § 60.

(2) Statute of Limitations: § 95.11(3)(p), Fla. Stat. (four years); Young v. Ball, 835 So. 2d 385 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2003).

(3) Underlying wrongful act which would not be actionable against an individual person cannot form the basis for a conspiracy claim. See Kee v. National Reserve Life Ins. Co., 918 F.2d 1538, 1542 (11th Cir. 1990).

(4) Combinations of employees or management in connection with labor disputes cannot form the basis for a conspiracy claim. Churruca v. Miami Jai-alai, Inc., 353 So. 2d 547, 551 (Fla. 1977).

(5) Delayed discovery doctrine does not apply to claim for civil conspiracy. Young v. Ball, 2003 WL 187439, *1 (Fla. 2^nd DCA 2003).