History of workers compensation in Florida

Legal Brief

History of workers compensation in Florida

American employers and workers require a dependable system addressing workers’ compensation. This enables disputes involving vocational injuries and diseases to be adjudicated in a manner satisfactory to all parties. It is also a motivation for employers to develop safer work environments.

The first workers’ compensation law was passed in July 1935 to regulate cases dealing with workers injuries. The cases were adjudicated by the Florida Industrial Commission. These were increasingly becoming common due to the dangerous industrial jobs during the industrial revolution. Employers rarely took the initiative to give the workers their dues. Employees were taken to assume the risk of any harm associated with a job by accepting employment. Other common defenses were blaming the injured worker’s colleagues for accidents or negligence on the part of the employee.

Compensation benefits were awarded for injuries affecting workers in the line of duty. Employers were required to pay workers money for disability and medical care with out consideration to fault when accidents occurred. In turn, employees gave up their rights to sue the employers. In this way, employers were protected from losses they would have incurred if the courts had awarded huge amounts of money to injured workers. By 1937, approximately forty thousand cases of employee injuries were adjudicated in Florida with compensations worth almost a million dollars being awarded to employees.

In modern Florida, compensation benefits are awarded for diseases and death in addition to injuries. Claims are adjudicated under the government administrative board called the “Division of Workers` Compensation”. The compensation law has changed over the years due to various amendments. The amendments are made by the legislative arm of the State of Florida and the Florida Supreme court. Most amendments originating from the Supreme Court are usually based on cases demonstrating a need for change in the rule of law. A high profile example is the case of Betty Anna Sanders versus the City of Orlando, which progressed up to the Supreme Court. It raised the question of where the jurisdiction of Workers’ Compensation Claims lay.

Traditionally, Article V courts have no jurisdiction over disputes involving workers’ compensation. These Article V courts include the Florida Districts Court of Appeal, Circuit and County courts. In Florida, the exclusive jurisdiction on this subject matter has been with the Judges of Compensation Claims (JCCs) court, which specifically deals with workers’ compensation. This can be demonstrated by cases such as liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Norma Peele versus Colleen Steadman (Steadman, case number 895 So. 2d 435). The supreme court of Florida ruled that a circuit court did not have jurisdiction over suits against compensation carriers for issues covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act. Other cases, which were treated similarly, include the Southeast Administrators, Inc. versus Estella Moriarty (Moriarty, case number 571 So. 2d 589) and Protegrity Services Incorporated versus Brehm (case number 901 So. 2d 150 -2005).

In 2001, an Amendment of the workers’ compensation act resulted in the addition of Subsection (c) to section 440.20(11). This established that in cases where workers did not have counsel, the approval of Judges of Compensation Claims over claimants’ settlements was not required. This eliminated delays and paperwork the claimant would have to handle to offset the disadvantage of not having lawyers. This also protected them from being victims of misrepresentation and fraud. The Judges of Compensation Claims, however, maintained the jurisdiction over cases with counsels present.

Another case that influenced law formulation in Florida is Renteria versus ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance Incorporated (case number 11-020986RJH). This court required the employer to pay the claimant despite their illegal immigrant status. The claimant had given the employer a fake social security number to obtain employment. The logic was that the immigration status did not affect the truth of the compensation claim. However, this did not protect them from subsequent legal action taken against them by their former employers who were free to sue them for fraud afterwards.

In 2003, the supreme court of Florida laid out new rules of procedure contained in chapter 60Q for compensation adjudications. In 2005, the Florida Supreme Court approved several amendments to the Appellate Procedure rules pertaining to workers’ compensation. Rule 9.180(b) (2) in Chapter 440 was amended to provide that if prompt requests for Judges of Compensation Claims to vacate final abbreviated orders and enter detailed ones providing facts, the right for appeal would be waived. This raised a debate over the rule of law surrounding a claimant’s right to get a fair Appellate Court hearing if they did not have capable lawyers.

The most recent version of the Florida Workers` compensation law is Chapter 440, Florida statutes (2011). It is the result of regular revisions based on the legislature and the different cases presented by a changing society. All revisions must be based on the constitution of Florida. There is a growing concern among workers over the increasing role of powerful insurance companies in workers’ compensation disputes. An often-cited example of their negative involvement is the high publicity given to workers committing compensation related fraud. However, claims payment fraud often committed by insurance companies goes largely unnoticed. These often results in workers having to endure unnecessary delays in getting payments. Since they have waived their right to sue, they are unable to fight for their rights especially if they do not have legal counsel.