Post by Logan on Jun 10, 2016 6:06:04 GMT -6
Florida Supreme Court rejects another part of workers compensation system
For the second time in less than two months, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that part of the state's workers' compensation insurance system is unconstitutional.
Justices, in a 5-2 decision, ruled in favor of Bradley Westphal, a St. Petersburg firefighter who suffered a severe back injury while on the job in 2009. The case focused on a workers' compensation law that led to Westphal's benefits being cut off after two years, creating what the Supreme Court described as a "coverage gap."
"As applied to Westphal, the current workers' compensation statutory scheme does not just reduce the amount of benefits he would receive … but in fact completely cuts off his ability to receive any disability benefits at all," said the 34-page majority opinion written by Judge Barbara Pariente and joined fully by Chief Justice Jorge Labarga, Peggy Quince and James E.C. Perry. "It does so even though there is no dispute that Westphal remained a severely injured and disabled firefighter under active treatment by doctors the city selected for him."
The ruling was a victory for labor groups and plaintiffs' attorneys, who have long argued that the Legislature has gone too far in taking away the rights of injured workers in an effort to hold down insurance costs for businesses. The Supreme Court ruled in April that a law limiting attorney's fees in workers' compensation cases was unconstitutional.
Read more: www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-supreme-court-rejects-another-part-of-workers-compensation-system/2280988
For the second time in less than two months, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that part of the state's workers' compensation insurance system is unconstitutional.
Justices, in a 5-2 decision, ruled in favor of Bradley Westphal, a St. Petersburg firefighter who suffered a severe back injury while on the job in 2009. The case focused on a workers' compensation law that led to Westphal's benefits being cut off after two years, creating what the Supreme Court described as a "coverage gap."
"As applied to Westphal, the current workers' compensation statutory scheme does not just reduce the amount of benefits he would receive … but in fact completely cuts off his ability to receive any disability benefits at all," said the 34-page majority opinion written by Judge Barbara Pariente and joined fully by Chief Justice Jorge Labarga, Peggy Quince and James E.C. Perry. "It does so even though there is no dispute that Westphal remained a severely injured and disabled firefighter under active treatment by doctors the city selected for him."
The ruling was a victory for labor groups and plaintiffs' attorneys, who have long argued that the Legislature has gone too far in taking away the rights of injured workers in an effort to hold down insurance costs for businesses. The Supreme Court ruled in April that a law limiting attorney's fees in workers' compensation cases was unconstitutional.
Read more: www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-supreme-court-rejects-another-part-of-workers-compensation-system/2280988