In State Dep’t of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Rendon, -- So. 2d --, 2007 WL 521156 (Fla. 3d DCA Feb. 21, 2007), the Third District joined the Second District in effectively ruling out class actions seeking money damages in refund litigation against the State.
This class action challenged the fees imposed by the State for issuing handicap parking placards pursuant to federal regulations promulgated under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Even though the regulation prohibited the state from charging a surcharge, Florida had charged a $15.00 fee for the placards until 2002, at which time the fee had been replaced by an administrative processing fee of $1.50. The trial court granted class certification and summary judgment to the plaintiffs. After a tortured history involving an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Third District affirmed the grant of prospective injunction and declaratory relief invalidating the surcharge. The court, however, reversed the part of the judgment permitting the recovery of money damages. It noted that, under Second District precedent, P.R. Marketing Group, Inc. v. GTE Fla., Inc., 747 So. 2d 962 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999), every class member would have to exhaust administrative remedies by applying for a refund before filing suit. A demand by a class representative would not suffice. Because the summary judgment record did not reveal which class members had applied for a refund, the court reversed the judgment for all class members which had not sought a refund.