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Florida Injury Attorney Blawg

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Employers Skirt Florida’s Workers’ Compensation System

Florida employers with four or more employees must maintain workers’ compensation insurance or a statutorily prescribed alternative. §440.055 Florida Statutes (2015). An employer who fails to maintain the coverage may nevertheless be sued by an injured employee for workers’ compensation benefits or, in the alternative, the employee may proceed at common law to recover damages for injury…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // A Dog is Not an Uninsured Motorist

In a state (Florida) that does not require motorists to maintain Bodily Injury (BI) insurance, having Uninsured Motorist (UM)/Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage, within the prescripts of Florida Statute 627.727, is the best protection against uninsured/underinsured drivers. Per 627.727(1), UM/UIM is designed “for the protection of persons insured thereunder who are legally entitled to recover…

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Jeffrey P. Gale // Florida Statute 440.205 Workers’ Compensation Retaliation/Wrongful Termination COA (Prong #3)

In previous blogs, we addressed the first and second elements of a Section 440.205 Florida Statutes wrongful retaliation/termination cause of action. This blog will address prong the third element. §440.205 reads as follows: Coercion of employees.—No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any employee by reason of such employee’s…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Virtually Impossible in Florida to Overcome Workers’ Compensation Immunity (440.11)

Florida’s workers’ compensation system was created, in 1935, with the goal of providing benefits to injured workers without the delay of having to prove the accident was caused by the employer’s negligence. In exchange for this no-fault system, employers were granted immunity from being liable for negligence. The system, however, did not afford absolute immunity. There…

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Jeffrey P. Gale // Florida Statute 440.205 Workers’ Compensation Retaliation/Wrongful Termination COA (Prong #2)

Our previous blog addressed the first prong of a Florida Statute §440.205 workers’ compensation retaliation/wrongful termination cause of action (COA). §440.205 provides: Coercion of employees.—No employer shall discharge, threaten to discharge, intimidate, or coerce any employee by reason of such employee’s valid claim for compensation or attempt to claim compensation under…

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Jeffrey P. Gale // Florida Statute 440.205 Workers’ Compensation Retaliation/Wrongful Termination COA (Prong #1)

Florida is an at-will employment state. The doctrine often allows employers to end employment relationships without suffering any negative consequences besides paying unemployment compensation benefits. While the doctrine creates a climate of vulnerability, Florida employers do not have absolute immunity for every termination decision. They can find themselves in hot water for harassing or terminating an employee because…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Example of Florida’s Eroding Workers’ Compensation Benefits — TTD (440.15(2)(b))

I have blogged often to express my displeasure and dismay with the slow and sometimes immediate erosion of benefits available to injured workers under Florida’s workers’ compensation system. This blog highlights one example. The Florida Legislature enacted the state’s first “Workman’s” Compensation Act in 1935. While I have not done a case study of…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Burden on Defendant to Prove Entitlement to Offset

Personal injury plaintiffs and defendants battle over past and future damages. One frequent battleground concerns the amount a plaintiff should be awarded for future medical expenses. Not infrequently, plaintiffs have sources such as health insurance, workers’ compensation, PIP, Med Pay, Medicaid, and Medicare to cover some or all of their future medical…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Future Damages Not Offset by Parental Payments

Florida’s civil justice system allows accident victims to seek damages from those alleged to be at fault. Damages awardable fall into two broad categories: Economic and non-economic. Economic damages include medical expenses (past and future), past lost income, and the loss of earning capacity in the future. In some instances, Florida law…

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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Florida’s First DCA Ostensibly Workers’ Compensation’s Supreme Court

Florida has five district courts of appeal. These courts are charged with reviewing rulings and outcomes arising in lower tribunals. Above these courts sits the Florida Supreme Court. This court reviews decisions issued by the five lower courts of appeal. Cases reach the Florida Supreme Court in one or more of the following ways: (1)…

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