Worker Must File Comp Claim Before Suing Employer

Florida workers can't unilaterally decide that an injury explicitly excluded from workers' compensation coverage is not compensable before suing their employers in tort, a state appellate court ruled. Instead, a worker must file a workers' compensation claim and have a carrier or a judge determine that the injury is not compensable before suing the employer. What's more, the 5th District Court of Appeal said only a judge of compensation claims, not a circuit court judge, can rule on compensability. Amber N. Spears was working for Steak 'n Shake when a man held her at...