Figueroa v. Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC
Two cleaning contractors who worked in privatized military housing at NAS Key West sued Balfour Beatty entities for negligence and fraud based on undisclosed mold contamination. The magistrate judge recommended denying the Rule 12(b)(7) motion premised on the non-joinder of the (administratively dissolved) vendor LLC, holding that a potential joint tortfeasor is merely a permissive party and that Florida's comparative-fault statute, Fla. Stat. § 768.81(3)(a), already lets defendants apportion fault to a nonparty. The fraud-based counts were recommended for dismissal without prejudice for failing Rule 9(b)'s particularity requirement.
Key facts
- Two cleaning contractors employed by a vendor LLC sued Balfour Beatty entities for negligence and fraud, alleging the defendants failed to disclose mold contamination in privatized military housing at NAS Key West.
- The defendants moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(7) for failure to join the vendor LLC (which had been administratively dissolved) as an indispensable party, and moved to dismiss the fraud counts for failure to plead with particularity under Rule 9(b).
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Why it matters
Practitioners facing a Rule 12(b)(7) 'indispensable party' attack premised on an absent employer, subcontractor, or vendor can cite this decision for the proposition that Florida's Fabre/§ 768.81(3)(a) nonparty-fault… — full analysis with a trial
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