Greetings, How do you handle a claimant who refuses or is fired from light duty, if the light duty offered did not pay 80% of their AWW? For example, the employer can only offer 20 hours a week light duty, and the carrier is paying some TPD based on the 80%/80% TPD formula, but then […]
Greetings, We are still in a bit of no man’s land on definitive answers regarding the use of Medical Marijuana and the intoxication defense in Florida. (The 1st DCA has upheld the law that WC does not need to pay for Medical Marijuana.) Gustafson’s Dairy v. Phillips, 656 So.2d 1386(Fla.1st DCA 1995). The claimant’s arm […]
Greetings, In the 2015 Jennings v. Habana case (link below), the 1st DCA established that prevailing party costs are separate and distinct from claimant’s attorney fees. The DCA opined that if the Employer/Carrier provides any benefits after a Petition for Benefits is filed, the claimant “prevailed”. The court felt this was the case even if […]
Greetings, I have a received a few questions about the impact Florida Senate Bill 1718 will have on Florida WC. The new law imposes stricter penalties on those who smuggle unauthorized aliens, etc…but a few provisions will have an indirect effect on WC. Taken from the Florida Senate’s summary of the new law (link below), […]
Greetings, If any of you have attended our firm’s CEU’s or webinars over the years, you have likely heard us explain the Florida WC Statute of Limitations as “2 years from the date of accident or 1 year from the last provision of a benefit, whichever is later.” And that is how the courts and […]
Greetings, last week the 1st DCA issued a ruling regarding the 120-day rule and the necessity of sending the “120-day letter” in the link below is the case of Churchill v. DBI Services (1D21-3199). The “initial provision of compensation or benefits” starts a Carrier’s 14- day clock to “pay, pay and investigate, or deny” and […]
Greetings, Although the Florida Legislative session ended May 5th, HB 487 was signed into law at the end of last week (5/25/23). There are two parts of the bill that deal directly with Florida Workers’ Compensation, but no drastic changes. Well the new statute removes the word “shall” and replaces it with “may”. This means […]
Greetings, In the last week I received a few questions about how far is too far for a claimant to travel for medical treatment. A big thank you to Ryan Knight of our Miami office for helping with the caselaw below on this one. (if you need anything in Miami-Ft/ Lauderdale, Ryan is fantastic: rknight@eraclides.com) […]
Greetings, good surveillance can be an effective tool in defending a WC claim in Florida. The decision on how, when and where to use it effectively can be tricky. The three primary objectives in utilizing surveillance are: Let’s look at each of those separately. As an aside, it is very important you confer with defense […]
Greetings, everyone makes mistakes, but they are always fixable (well almost always). Occasionally I will have an adjuster reach out to me thinking that had previously assigned defense with a mediation set for that day. And without fail, our firm will be able to handle it or get it moved. But I know, for some […]