Blue Martini Kendall, LLC v. Miami Dade Cnty., No. 14-13722 (11th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseTwo off-regular-duty Miami-Dade police officers were moonlighting by providing "police services" to a local bar and nightclub, Blue Martini. The officers got into an altercation with two individuals, Gustavo and Elsa Martinez, and arrested them. The Martinezes filed suit against the officers, as well as Miami-Dade and Blue Martini. The Martinezes' claims have been settled or resolved. In this appeal, Blue Martini challenged the district court’s order granting summary judgment to the County on the County’s indemnification claim against Blue Martini. Blue Martini claims for the first time on appeal that Fla. Stat. 30.2905 - which makes a private employer responsible for the acts or omissions of the deputy sheriff while performing services for that employer while off duty - wrongfully deprived it of property in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause. Because the constitutional question raised is purely a legal one and because the matter is likely to arise again, the court exercised its discretion to entertain the claim. The court held that Fla. Stat. 30.2905 reasonably serves a variety of legitimate governmental interests, easily passes rational basis scrutiny, and, therefore, does not violate the due process clause. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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