Blog
COVID & Florida Workers’ Comp
Wes Heim – Tampa wheim@eraclides.com In July of 2020 we took a look at the OJCC and the impact of COVID-19 generally (July 2020 Article) and in September I revisited the topic noting some of the emerging litigation trends (September 2020 Article). Just a few months ago, Governor DeSantis of Florida signed Senate Bill 72 […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Covid compensability refresher
Greetings, As you can imagine with the surge in Covid cases due to the Delta variant, I am seeing a big increase in the number of questions I am getting about Covid compensability situations. My colleague Wes Heim in our Tampa office is preparing an article summarizing all of the JCC level cases that touched […]
Parking Lots, Clocked In or Out and Tater Tots
Greetings, Over the last week I have received several questions about compensability of accidents in parking lots and being off the clock. First issue that needs to be sorted out is whether the parking lot is considered the employer’s premises. Under the Premises Rule, even if an employee is clocked out, and is on their […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – FL Medical Marijuana Update
Greetings, On June 30, the 1st DCA ruled on whether an Employer/Carrier has to authorize a “referral for Medical Marijuana” in Jones v. Grace Healthcare (1D19-1684), case attached. The DCA found the E/C did not have to authorize the referral: “Under Florida law, marijuana is not reimbursable within our worker’s compensation system. Moreover, extant federal […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Losing Control of One Time Change
Greetings, The 1st DCA issued a troubling decision regarding 1-time changes in St. Lucie Public Schools v. Alexander (case attached). In this case, the E/C timely responded to the 1-time change request, but because there was a 16-day gap in following up on an appointment, the E/C lost control of the choice of doctor. The […]
Juneteenth
Eraclides Gelman Hall Indek Goodman Waters & Traverso recognizes the significance of June 19, 1865, commonly referred to as Juneteenth, a historical date in American history. Juneteenth is many times referred to as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day. Juneteenth is a celebration of the abolition of slavery in the United States. […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – IB Reductions
Greetings, A frustrating issue came up on one of my files and I thought it would be a good refresher tip of the week regarding reduced impairment benefits. Once a claimant is put at MMI, they are paid impairment benefits at a rate of 75% of their TTD rate per 440.15(3)(c). However, for each week […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – The End of Federal Unemployment
Greetings, Florida has announced an early end to the $300 Federal Unemployment benefit on 6/26/21. The Federal Benefit was slated to expire on 9/6/21, but several states have ended the program earlier. Florida will revert back to the state maximum of $275 a week. If you are taking an offset this will have to be […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Newly Hired Challenges
Greetings, The economy in Florida is starting to climb back, and tourism is returning (judging by the number of shrieking, wailing and marauding children at Orlando Int. Airport this weekend). As of right now, Floridians on Unemployment continue to receive the $300 Federal boost on top of the state max of $275. That is slated […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – TPD During COVID Layoff, AWW
Greetings, A JCC level case from a week ago caught my eye because it dealt with two issues that I am being asked about fairly frequently. (JCC level cases are not “the law”, and they are not binding on other JCC’s, but are sometimes good indicators as to how other JCC’s may rule). In this […]