Employers and their workers’ compensation insurance companies (E/C) relish the opportunity to deny benefits to employees injured on the job. One of the most powerful weapons in their ample arsenal is the section 440.09(3), Florida Statutes drug defense. It reads as follows: (3) Compensation is not payable if the injury was…
Florida Injury Attorney Blawg
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Obtain Accident Video Before Plaintiff’s Deposition in Florida Premises Liability Cases
In this day and age of surveillance cameras everywhere, it is not uncommon for premises accidents to be captured on video. For various reasons it is critically important for the plaintiff’s attorney to secure a copy of all videos as soon as possible. One of the most important reasons is…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Key to Defeating Florida Workers’ Compensation Drug Defense is Preventing Presumption of Impairment
A popular defense utilized by Florida employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers (E/C) to keep from having to pay workers’ compensation benefits is the drug defense under section 440.09(3), Florida Statutes. In pertinent part, the section provides as follows: (3) Compensation is not payable if the injury was occasioned…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Where We Stand
FACEBOOK POSTS: January 18, 2019 Americans are about to learn in detail that Trump and Putin colluded on a massive scale to dupe American voters. So far, we’ve only seen the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Free and fair elections are sacred. They are the very foundation on which America…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Florida Workers’ Compensation Law Interplay Between Catastrophic Injuries and Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) and Permanent Total Disability (PTD) Benefits
Permanent Total Disability (PTD) — defined in section 440.15(1), Florida Statutes — is an indemnity (monetary) benefit sometimes available under Florida’s Workers’ Compensation System to the state’s most severely injured workers. Unless the worker has suffered an injury of the type as set forth in 440.15(1)(b), commonly referred to as a “catastrophic injury,”…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Constitutionality of Florida Hospital Lien Depends on Mechanism of Creation
Hospitals expect to be paid for services rendered. Payment sources range from personal funds, government assistance, to insurance. When the accident is job related, workers’ compensation will pay the hospital in compensable cases. When the accident is not job related, third parties responsible for causing the accident may have to pay compensation for hospital…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Florida Property Damage Law — Efficient-Proximate-Cause Theory vs. Concurrent-Causation Theory
In Citizens Property Insurance Corporation v. Salkey (Opinion filed November `6, 2018), property owners insured with Citizens claimed losses alleged to have been caused by sinkhole activity. They had purchased coverage endorsement, which provided coverage for direct physical loss caused by sinkhole activity. An expert hired by Citizens concluded that the property damage…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Florida Public Health Care Hospital’s Lien Law Declared Unconstitutional
CAVEAT: This blog has been superseded by this blog: Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Constitutionality of Florida Hospital Lien Depends on Mechanism of Creation Hospital liens have been the bane of every Florida personal injury lawyer’s existence. Perhaps no longer. An enforceable lien is the right to receive a monetary…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Florida Law Regarding Settlement Setoffs in Personal Injury Cases
Florida law regarding setoffs is found in sections 46.015(2), 768.041(2), and 768.31(5), Florida Statutes. Each of these statutes presupposes the existence of multiple defendants jointly and severally liable for the same damages. See Wells v. Tallahassee Mem’l Reg’l Med. Ctr., Inc., 659 So.2d 249, 253 (Fla. 1995). Back when defendants…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Carrier’s Obligation to Pay Medical Expenses Despite Drug/Alcohol Impairment Defense
Under Florida law, if a workplace injury was occasioned primarily by the influence of alcohol or drugs, workers’ compensation benefits can be denied. Section 440.09(3), Florida Statutes (2018) (Interestingly, while this section provides that “Compensation is not payable,” with section 440.02(7) defining “Compensation” as “the money allowance payable to an…