Background
Affinity Health Partners hired Hayes Locums to place medical professionals at its facilities. Their service agreement stated that fees for each placement would be set out in separate confirmations, but Hayes did not attach those confirmations to its amended complaint. Instead, it attached a one-page invoice spreadsheet listing unpaid balances totaling $219,822.70.
Hayes alleged varying damages figures in its complaint, including $219,822, $234,822.70, and an amount to be determined at trial. After Affinity failed to respond, the clerk entered a default. The trial court gave Affinity 25 days’ notice of a five-minute hearing and entered a default judgment for principal, prejudgment interest, costs, and attorney’s fees. On postjudgment review, it removed the attorney’s-fee award but otherwise treated the damages as liquidated.
The Court’s Holding
The Fourth District reversed. The claimed damages were unliquidated because neither the service agreement nor the invoice spreadsheet established the fees due with exactness or through arithmetic calculation. The agreement required separate confirmations to establish assignment-specific charges, and those documents were absent. A fixed demand in a complaint did not make the damages liquidated, particularly where the complaint alleged inconsistent amounts.
Affinity was therefore entitled to a properly noticed evidentiary damages proceeding. The 25-day notice did not comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.440(c)(4)’s 30-day requirement, and the hearing was not evidentiary because the court received no evidence to determine damages. The court remanded for a properly noticed damages trial.
Key Takeaways
- A default admits liability but does not permit an award of unliquidated damages without appropriate process.
- Contract damages are unliquidated when key fee terms require missing supporting documents or additional proof.
- A hearing on unliquidated damages must be properly noticed and include presentation and evaluation of evidence.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that a plaintiff cannot convert disputed or unsupported contract amounts into liquidated damages merely by listing invoices or demanding a specific sum. Default-judgment practice must still afford the defendant notice and an opportunity to contest the amount of unliquidated damages.