Judge Declares Exclusive Remedy of Comp Act Unconstitutional

A Miami trial court judge on Wednesday declared the exclusive remedy provision of Florida's Workers' Compensation Act facially unconstitutional as a matter of law − the latest instance of increasing judicial scrutiny that has worried employers and energized claimant attorneys. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Cueto found that the Act was "no longer an adequate exclusive replacement remedy in place of common-law tort, as required by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or by the Florida Constitution." He observed that the act "became unconstitutional as a...