Florida Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Exclusive Remedy Workers’ Compensation Case
Oct 22, 2015
The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case that focuses on the question of whether the state’s workers’ compensation system should be the exclusive remedy for workers who get injured on the job.
PoliticoFlorida.com’s Christine Sexton reported today, October 22, 2015, that the Supreme Court has agreed to consider Stahl v. Hialeah Hospital and Sedgwick Claims Management Services. A timetable for briefs to be filed has been set and oral arguments could be heard as early as January.
To access the docket, click here.
Attorneys for the plaintiff, Daniel Stahl, are arguing that Florida’s workers’ compensation system has been changed to the benefit of employers and no longer is an adequate remedy for injured workers.
Stahl is a nurse who suffered a back injury while working at Hialeah Hospital on December 8, 2003. He initially filed suit in Circuit Court but a judge dismissed his claim. Stahl, who suffered a 7-percent permanent disability, appealed to the Third District Court of Appeal, which upheld the lower court ruling and also admonished Stahl.
At that point, Stahl entered the workers’ compensation system and appealed several determinations that were made against him, PoliticoFlorida.com explained.
One of the appeals to the First District Court of Appeal involved a determination that he be required to pay a $10 co-payment for his physician visits because he was considered to have reached “maximum medical improvement.”
The workers’ compensation judge had also determined Stahl could not be paid for permanent partial total disability because the benefit was eliminated from the law in 2003.
The appeals court ruled against Stahl, saying the co-payments were legal based on a “rational review” of Florida’s workers’ compensation law.
Stahl’s attorneys asked the Florida Supreme Court to consider the case, arguing the appellate court should not have applied a “rational review” standard, but rather a tougher “strict scrutiny” standard because the workers’ compensation system denies the injured worker access to the courts and a jury trial.
Attorneys for Hialeah Hospital unsuccessfully argued that the Florida Supreme Court should not review the case because it isn’t a matter of great public importance and there was no conflict between appellate courts.
There are now three workers’ compensation cases pending before the Florida Supreme Court.
The Court heard oral arguments in Castellanos v. Next Door Company in November 2014. The case addresses attorneys’ fees restrictions in the law.
The other case before the Court is Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg, in which oral arguments were heard in June 2014.
Neither of those cases has been decided.
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