Important Recent Case Law for Florida

Friday, March 21, 2014 | 0

NEW! Flagler Hospital v. Association Insurance Co., 1D13-1229, (03/12/2014): A hospital that provided treatment to an injured worker could not demand payment for its bills from the Workers' Compensation Division of the Department for Financial Services until the compensability of the worker's claim was established, the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled. 

NEW! Johns Eastern Co. v. Bellamy, 1D13-3613, (03/12/2014): The 1st District Court of Appeal reversed a judge's finding that an injured firefighter was entitled to benefits because it was unclear whether the judge had applied the appropriate standard of proof for the employer to rebut the statutory presumption of industrial causation for the firefighter's injuries. 

White v. State of Florida, 1D13-2631, (03/04/2014): The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that a worker was not entitled to impairment benefits under Florida Statutes Section 440.15(3)(a) for a noncompensable injury because her employer had initially treated her claim as compensable under Section 440.20(4).

Luces v. Red Ventures, 1D13-1001, (02/28/2014): The 1st District Court of Appeal said a judge of compensation claims exceeded his authority by changing a settlement agreement submitted by the parties to redirect the money that the parties had designated as the fee for the claimant's attorney to the claimant herself.

Franklin v. Riviera Beach Fire Rescue, 1D13-2765, (02/26/2014): A judge of compensation claims erred by denying a firefighter's request for an upgraded hearing aid on the basis that he had not established the medical necessity for an upgrade where the comp carrier had conceded that an upgrade was needed.

Gadol v. Masoret Yehudit, 1D13-2567, (02/21/2014): The Florida 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that a worker's right to select a doctor if her employer's carrier does not timely respond to her request for a one-time change in physician is not lost if she does not name her doctor of choice before the carrier assigns her a new doctor.

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services v. Anderson, 1D13-3429, (02/13/2014): A judge of compensation claims cannot reserve jurisdiction over benefit issues that were not identified in a petition for benefits, the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal ruled.

Hornfischer v. Manatee County Sheriff's Office, 2D13-374, (02/12/2014): The Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal revived an injured municipal employee's claims for retaliatory discharge, saying his case was not amenable to disposition by summary judgment. 

Pomerantz v. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and Usis, 1D13-2950, (02/07/2014): The statute of limitations for filing a workers' compensation claim began to run on the date that the claimant was furnished a prescription for medication by his authorized physician, not on the date that the prescription ran out, the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal ruled.

Andino-Rivera v. Southeast Atlantic Beverage Co., 1D13-0598, (01/024/2014): The Florida 1st District Court of Appeal overturned a judge's denial of temporary partial disability benefits and pain-management services to a worker with an admittedly compensable back injury and hernia.