Few parts of Chapter 440 of the Florida Statutes demand as much attention from the workers’ compensation insurance carrier as section 440.20(4), Florida Statutes. It provides: If the carrier is uncertain of its obligation to provide all benefits or compensation, the carrier shall immediately and in good faith commence investigation…
Florida statute 440.11 precludes workers injured on the job from recovering damages from the employer at law or in admiralty on account of such injury or death. Damages at law or in admiralty include non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. It is a common law remedy. Damages for pain…
Florida lawyers handling accident cases are obligated to make every effort to search out all potential revenue sources to justly compensate their clients. Typically, people harmed in the workplace are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, which are furnished by employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers (“E/C”). Because of the…
From the perspective of injured workers, I am a frequent critic of Florida’s Workers’ Compensation System. Of the many inequities built into the System, I reserve my greatest disdain for its rules on the provision of medical care. Essentially, employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers get to pick all…
It is fairly certain that until an effective vaccine is created to control Covid-19 (a.k.a. “Coronavirus”), the virus will continue to spread from human-to-human contact. With the reopening of businesses, the threat of being infected in the workplace is real. If an employee can prove that his coronavirus infection came…
Our firm recently received a phone call from a highly distraught gentleman claiming that his Florida workers’ compensation case was closed as a result of running afoul of the system’s statute of limitations. After a lengthy question and answer session, I concluded that his only possible avenue of recourse was…
Workers injured in motor vehicle crashes while in the course and scope of employment may be eligible for compensation through uninsured/under-insured (UM/UIM) motor vehicle insurance. UM covers losses sustained by the insured, passengers, and family members through the fault of a party who fails to maintain Bodily Injury (BI) insurance. Hit-and-run and…
Most workers’ compensation and personal injury lawyers have had the occasion to deal with workers’ compensation liens. The lien, which is established by section 440.39, Florida Statutes, becomes an issue when the injured employee who has received workers’ compensation benefits also receives compensation from a third party tortfeasor in connection…
“Disability” under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) means “incapacity because of injury to earn the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of injury in the same or any other employment * * *.” § 902(10). The big disability compensation prize under the The Act…
Despite what some people believe, injured workers who are compensated both under workers’ compensation and the civil legal system for the same accident, do not receive a double recovery, or windfall. Section 440.39(3), Florida Statues, authorizes workers’ compensation carriers to file a lien against the claimant’s recovery in the civil…