Stresscon International, Inc. v. Ralph Merritt Development Corp.

PEARSON, Judge.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether the trial court’s action of dismissing a cause with prejudice after plaintiff’s failure to elect between two counts of his complaint was an abuse of discretion. We hold that under the peculiar circumstances of this case, the dismissal with prejudice was an abuse of discretion.

It should first be made clear that a trial judge may properly dismiss a cause with prejudice for failure of a plaintiff to comply timely with an order of the court. See Clifford Ragsdale, Inc. v. Morganti, Inc., 356 So.2d 1321 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). The…