Parsons & Whittemore, Inc. v. Metro. Dade County

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Parsons & Whittemore, Inc. vs. Metro. Dade County Number: 429 So.2d 343 Year: 1983 State: Florida Court: Florida Third District Court of Appeal Other lawsuits in Florida Other lawsuits in 1983 Precedents include: This case established a number of precedents: It affirmed the criteria listed in Schwartzman v. Merritt Island Volunteer Fire Dept., which established the definition of "acting on behalf of a public body" It affirmed the decision in Byron, Harless, Schaffer, Reid & Associates v. State ex rel. Schellenberg, which established that private corporations could be considered public bodies if they were critical to the decision making process of a public body.

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Parsons & Whittemore, Inc. v. Metro. Dade County was a case before the Florida Third District Court of Appeal in 1983 concerning the application of open records laws to private corporations.

Important precedents

This case established a number of precedents:

1. It affirmed the criteria listed in Schwartzman v. Merritt Island Volunteer Fire Dept., which established the definition of "acting on behalf of a public body"
2. It affirmed the decision in Byron, Harless, Schaffer, Reid & Associates v. State ex rel. Schellenberg, which established that private corporations could be considered public bodies if they were critical to the decision making process of a public body.

Background

• This case centers on a request for legal documents "relating to the construction, management, and sale of a solid waste facility" requested under the Florida Sunshine Law. The documents in question were in the possession of Resources Recovery (Dade County) Inc. (RRD) and Resources Recovery (Dade County) Construction Corporation (RRDC) and their respective law firms.
• The trial court ordered the release of all documents in question. The decision was appealed.

Ruling of the court

The trial court ruled against the corporations, ordering the documents released.

The Court of Appeals overturned the decision of the trial court. First, the Court of Appeals overturned the decision of the trial court to release all legal documents, instead remanding the case back to trial courts for an in camera review of documents which may be exempt under the attorney-client privilege and attorney work-product exemptions. Next, the court rejected the trial courts decision that the private corporations were considered public bodies. The court went on to cite the criteria listed in Schwartzman v. Merritt Island Volunteer Fire Dept., determining that the corporations in the current case did not meet the criteria and thus, did not perform an essentially governmental function. The court also determined that the private corporations were not critical to a decision making process, a criteria established by Byron, Harless, Schaffer, Reid & Associates v. State ex rel. Schellenberg. Based on these two rulings, the court established that the corporations were not public bodies and thus not subject to the law.

Associated cases

• Schwartzman v. Merritt Island Volunteer Fire Dept.
• Byron, Harless, Schaffer, Reid & Associates v. State ex rel. Schellenberg

External links

• Ruling of the Court