Federal Judge Casey Rodgers has denied the motion by Maritime Park Development Partners, LLC. to dismiss the lawsuit Community Maritime Park Associates, Inc. filed against MPDP. CMPA has alleged fraud in the inducement, negligent misrepresentation, and violation of Florida’s competitive bidding statute, Fla. Stat. § 287.055, in relation to a public development contract.
Points from the ruling:
MPDP sought dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted. In considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court accepted all factual allegations of the complaint as true and construes them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.
Judge Rodgers found that the First Amended Complaint adequately alleges, with a plausible recitation of particular facts, that MPDP, its officers, and its alter ego or predecessor in business made knowing misrepresentations intended to induce reliance and that did induce reliance, resulting in damage to the plaintiff.
It is clear from the statutory scheme, the published RFQ and RFP attached to the complaint, and the allegations of the First Amended Complaint, that the issues of qualifications and financial capacity of the applicant continued to be of utmost importance to CMPA.3 The court finds no merit to MPDP’s argument otherwise. Similarly lacking in merit is defendant’s assertion that there is no identity between MPDP and Land Capital in the allegations of the First Amended Complaint.
The court finds that the allegations of Count Three – i.e., that the defendant offered a contingency fee to a brokerage company as a reward for the public contract being awarded to the defendant – are sufficient to state a claim under § 287.055(6).
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