Florida Statute Section 768.72 governs claims for punitive damages, and provides:

In any civil action, no claim for punitive damages shall be permitted unless there is a reasonable showing by evidence in the record or proffered by the claimant which would provide a reasonable basis for recovery of such damages. The claimant may move to amend her or his complaint to assert a claim for punitive damages as allowed by the rules of civil procedure. The rules of civil procedure shall be liberally construed so as to allow the claimant discovery of evidence which appears reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence on the issue of punitive damages.

768.72(1), Fla. Stat.

To support an award of punitive damages, Plaintiff must establish that the Defendant’s conduct rises to the level of intentional misconduct or gross negligence. §768.72, Fla. Stat. Intentional misconduct and gross negligence are defined by the Statute as follows:

(a) “Intentional misconduct” means that the defendant had actual knowledge of the wrongfulness of the conduct and the high probability that injury or damage to the claimant would result and, despite that knowledge, intentionally pursued that course of conduct, resulting in injury or damage.

(b) “Gross negligence” means that the defendant’s conduct was so reckless or wanting in care that it constituted a conscious disregard or indifference to the life, safety, or rights of persons exposed to such conduct.

768.72(2)(a) and (b), Fla.Stat. “[A]n evidentiary hearing is not required.” E.g., Tilton v. Wrobel, 198 So.3d 909, 910 (Fla. 4^th DCA 2016)(citing Strasser v. Yalamanchi, 677 So.2d 22, 23 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)). By its own plain language, §768.72 requires only a reasonable showing in support of a reasonable basis for punitive damages. Strasser, 677 So.2d at 23; see also §768.72(1), Fla. Stat. (“no claim for punitive damages shall be permitted unless there is a reasonable showing by evidence in the record or proffered by the claimant which would provide a reasonable basis for recovery of such damages”).

The procedure a court must follow to resolve a motion for leave to amend to add a claim for punitive damages. As explained by the Fourth District Court of Appeal:

First, the movant must attach the proposed amended pleading to the motion seeking leave to amend in compliance with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.190(a).” Second, the ‘proffer” or other evidence of record to support the punitive damages claim must be served prior to the hearing on the motion for leave to amend. Third, the trial court must make an affirmative finding that the plaintiff made a reasonable showing by evidence, which would provide a reasonable evidentiary basis for recovering such damages if the motion to amend is granted.

Event Depot Corp. v Frank, 269 So.3d 559, 561-62 (Fla. 4^th DCA 2019)(internal citations and quotation marks omitted, and emphasis added).

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