Florida courts broaden Florida’s Deceptive Unfair Trade Practices Act to include all individuals, not just consumers.

Caribbean Cruise Line filed suit against the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) after receiving an “F” grade. BBB moved to dismiss the cruise line’s FDUTPA claim on the basis that the statute protected consumers and that the cruise line was not in a consumer relationship with it. The trial court agreed and dismissed the cruise line’s FDUTPA claim. On appeal, the 4^th DCA recognized that “courts are split as to whether an individual or business must be a consumer in order bring a valid FDUTPA claim.” In analyzing the issue, the 4^th DCA turned to the 2001 amendment to FDUTPA, which changed the language from “In any individual action brought by a consumer” to “In any action brought by a person.” Based on this amendment, and despite the Florida’s Supreme Court’s 2003 decision defining “unfair practice” and “deception” as activities involving a consumer, the 4^th DCA reversed, holding that “an entity does not have to be a consumer in order to have standing to bring a FDUTPA claim.” Therefore, the increased expansion by Florida courts to provide protection to non-consumers under FDUTPA will lead to increased litigation against businesses as a result of the statute’s prevailing party attorney fee provision.

_{Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2016}

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