O'Neal v. Fla. A & M Univ.
989 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
A former employee sued a state university, alleging it violated the Florida Whistle-blower's Act, §§ 112.3187-112.31895, Fla. Stat. (2003). The trial court granted the university's motion to strike the employee's jury demand, conducted a bench trial, and entered judgment for the university. The employee appealed. The employee's complaint alleged that after she made oral reports to the administration alleging irregularities in the university's scholarship accounts, an ensuing internal investigation failed to substantiate at least some of her claims. The university then declined to renew her annual contract, which effectively terminated her employment. She sought lost wages and benefits caused by her allegedly retaliatory discharge under § 112.3187(9)(c), Fla. Stat. (2004), of the Act. The appellate court noted that a party seeking to invoke rights and remedies of the sort traditionally enforceable in an action at law had a concomitant right to trial by jury. Because the employee sought legal relief in the form of money damages as compensation for lost wages, the trial court erred in denying her right to a jury trial under art. I, § 22, Fla. Const. That the employee also sought front pay or other equitable relief was immaterial to her right to a jury trial; since she also sued for back pay, she was not seeking purely equitable relief. The judgment was reversed and the case was remanded with directions to reinstate the employee's demand for trial by jury.