The short answer is that yes, you can sue a corporation in Miami, FL. When you sue someone, the defendant can be a natural person (an individual) or a legal person (certain types of organizations, including corporations). Corporate liability is not limited to business matters such as breach of contract—you can also sue for personal injury. Of course, you will need to establish liability before you can win such a lawsuit.
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Is the Defendant a Corporation?
It doesn’t matter whether you can sue a corporation if the defendant is not even a corporation. The defendant could be a sole proprietorship, for example, a general partnership or an unincorporated association.
There is one reliable way to find out if your proposed defendant is actually a corporation—check the Florida Division of Corporations. The defendant might be an in-state corporation or an out-of-state corporation. If the defendant is not a Florida corporation, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t sue them–it just means you’ll have to go about it differently.
Bases of Liability: When Can You Hold a Corporation Liable?
Depending on the circumstances, you can potentially hold a corporation liable for the misconduct of its employee or for its own misconduct. ‘Its own misconduct’ means faulty corporate executive decisions.
The Doctrine of Respondeat Superior
Under the ancient legal doctrine of respondeat superior, you can hold an employer liable for the misconduct of their employee. The employee must have committed misconduct while acting within the scope of their employment.
If an ABC Courier Service driver ran a stop sign and hit you, for example, you would probably sue ABC. If the driver stopped at a bar, even on duty, and beat you in a drunken rage, you probably couldn’t sue ABC for their employee’s negligence. You might be able to sue ABC for its own negligence, however (see below).
Negligent Hiring
Suppose ABC hired a driver with two DUIs on their record because it failed to check the driver’s driving record. If the driver subsequently gets drunk on duty and plows into you, you shouldn’t have to rely on respondeat superior to sue ABC. Instead, you could sue ABC for its own negligence.
Negligent Supervision
Suppose an ABC driver receives two speeding tickets in a single month, both while on duty. ABC fails to discipline or retrain the driver, resulting in an accident caused by the same driver speeding through a stop sign. The accident victim might win a lawsuit for negligent supervision.
Negligent Retention
Suppose an ABC driver got into a DUI accident while on duty, and ABC failed to fire the driver. The driver subsequently caused an accident with you while drunk on duty and driving an ABC truck. You could probably sue ABC for ‘negligent retention.’ This means they were negligent by failing to fire the driver after their DUI accident. In other words, they negligently retained them.
Premises Liability
The owner or operator of a property has a legal duty to keep the premises safe for visitors. In rare cases, it might even owe trespassers a duty of care. With respect to its customers, a corporation must actually inspect its property for non-obvious dangers and either repair them or warn of them. Failure to do so could result in a premises liability claim if you suffer an injury as a consequence of a dangerous condition on corporate premises.
Product Liability
Suppose you suffer an injury from a defective and unreasonably dangerous product—an exploding cigarette lighter, for example, or a poisonous prescription drug. Under Florida’s strict product liability law, you can sue any party in the chain of distribution of the product without proving fault.
You might sue the corporation that manufactures the product, for example. You might also sue the distributor for a manufacturing defect, even though the distributor didn’t even manufacture the product.
Workplace Injuries
You normally can’t sue your employer for a workplace injury. The reason for this restriction is that the workers’ compensation system is designed to handle workplace injury claims between an employer and an employee or among employees.
Unfortunately, compensation is strictly limited when you file a Florida workers’ compensation claim. Florida workers’ compensation covers your medical expenses, travel expenses, a portion of your lost wages (up to $1,260 per week in 2024), disability benefits, and death benefits.
You might be able to sue other corporations or even private pirates, but only if you can find a third party (other than you or your employer) responsible for your injury. Possible third parties include:
- The owner of a construction site where you suffered an injury;
- The manufacturer of a defective product that injured you;
- The driver of a vehicle that hit you while you were working (on a highway construction site, for example;
- A negligence subcontractor on a construction site or
- A property owner whose unsafe premises contributed to your injury.
These are only a few of many possible scenarios that might justify a lawsuit against a third party after a workplace accident. If you can find a third-party defendant and prove fault, you can claim compensation for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. You might even be able to claim punitive damages.
How to Sue a Company: Procedure
If you have a personal injury claim against a Florida corporation or a corporation licensed to do business in Florida, and you wish to sue them, take the following steps:
- Hire a lawyer. This is particularly important when the defendant is a corporation rather than an individual.
- Submit a formal written complaint, naming the corporation as a defendant, to the clerk of the County Court (up to $30,000) or the Circuit Court (more than $30,000). Talk to a lawyer about where to file the lawsuit because it can get nuanced. You will also need to pay a filing fee.
- Use a professional process server to serve a copy of the complaint and the summons to the corporation’s registered agent. The registered agent is a party that the corporation appoints to receive legal documents on its behalf. You can find the registered agent’s information on the website of the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations. Serving process on an out-of-state corporation might require additional steps.
At this point, you might want to consider commencing settlement negotiations with the defendant. If they refuse, you can demand evidence that is in their possession using the pretrial discovery process. Optimistically, this could generate enough evidence to enhance your bargaining power. Remember, you can settle at any point before a final judgment, even during a trial.
Beware the Statute of Limitations Deadline
You generally have only two years from the date of a personal injury to file a lawsuit. This means that if you don’t bring your case within two years, you will lose your right to recover. Exceptions apply in some cases.
Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Lawyer
If you think you might have a personal injury claim against a corporation, you should talk to a Miami lawyer at a free initial consultation. Contact Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers today at (305) 937-0191 Personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means you only pay attorney’s fees if you win.