Res judicata

Res judicata has been defined as follows:
 * “A judgment on the merits rendered in a former suit between the same parties or their privies, upon the same cause of action, by a court of competent jurisdiction, is conclusive not only as to every matter which was offered and received to sustain or defeat the claim, but as to every other matter which might with propriety have been litigated and determined in that action.”

Huff Groves Trust v. Caulkins Indiantown Citrus Co., 810 So. 2d 1049, 1050 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)(quoting Kimbrell v. Paige, 448 So. 2d 1009, 1012 (Fla.1984)).

Four identities are required for res judicata to be applicable to a case:
 * 1) identity in the thing sued for;
 * 2) identity of the cause of action;
 * 3) identity of the persons and parties to the actions; and
 * 4) identity of the quality or capacity of the persons for or against whom the claim is made.

''Freehling v. MGIC Fin. Corp.'', 437 So. 2d 191, 193 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983) (quoting Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Indus. Contracting Co., 260 So.2d 860, 862 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972)). Tyson v. Viacom, Inc., 890 So. 2d 1205, 1208-09 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005).