THE FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, on behalf of Rick Kriseman, in his official capacity as a Member of the Florida House of Representatives; and DAVID FLINTOM, in his official capacity as Staff of the Florida House of Representatives, Appellants, v. EXPEDIA, INC.; ORBITZ, LLC; INTERNETWORK PUBLISHING CORP., d/b/a Lodging.com; TRAVELOCITY.COM, LLP; PRICELINE.COM, INC.; TRAVELWEB LLC, HOTWIRE, INC.; HOTELS.COM, L. P.; BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA; and FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, Appellees., 85 So. 3d 517

Summary

The travel companies wanted to ask the representative and his aide how they obtained certain documents. Initially, because the House of Representatives, which sought relief, was not a party to the action pending in the lower court and would have had no opportunity to appeal the final judgment, the appellate court held that, as to the representative and the aide, the order was final and reviewable. Florida legislators enjoyed legislative immunity under state law pursuant to Art. II, § 3, Fla. Const. and the common law. The common law privilege continued to apply in Florida by means of § 2.01, Fla. Stat. The testimony to be elicited in this case fell within the scope of the legislative privilege. The documents that were the subject of the inquiry were acquired and distributed in the course of a debate within the House of Representatives on the merits of a pending bill. Gathering information pertaining to potential legislation and sharing it with colleagues was an essential part of the ...