Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Westphal

The Florida Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments over whether the state's 104-week cap on temporary disability was unconstitutional as it applied to an injured firefighter who exhausted his benefits nine months before he became medically stationary.The dispute in Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg has been raging since a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal last February declared Florida Statutes Section 440.15 unconstitutional. Seven months later, the en banc 1st DCA retreated from that ruling, holding instead that claimants who exhaust their 1...